


The King’s Gift

by NyaNyaDragon20XX



Series: The King’s Fragment [1]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable Rivalry, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Humanization of the Pale King, I like PK so deal with it, Most Characters I listed will come later in story, Original Character(s), Probably more characters but idk, Sadness, Sadness first then fluff, Sorry not sorry if you don’t like OCs, They are lots of tags I could put, This is my 1st fanfic so be nice, baby hornet at some point, child death at some point but hollow Knight is full of child death right?, i do this instead of sleeping btw, i never passed a spelling test in my life so probably horrible spelling cause I write at like 2am
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-10-31 11:31:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17848637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyaNyaDragon20XX/pseuds/NyaNyaDragon20XX
Summary: What if the King allowed the White Lady to have a single heir?During the creation of vessels the White Lady made a deal to only help the King with his plans if she got a single heir.Follow Thea as she deals with the worst dad in history; a super protective mother, a threat looming over the kingdom, and her (one sided) rivalry with ‘The Pure Vessel’





	1. The Deal

**Author's Note:**

> This basically a preface for the next couple chapters so bare with me

The Deal  
“There is something I want in return for my efforts, My Wyrm” The White Lady spoke quietly.  
“Yes?” The King hummed quietly staring into the depths of the Void from his ledge.  
“A child” she spoke shorty catching the King off guard as his harsh black eyes locked with her soft blue ones.  
The queen continued unshaken by the Kings unsettling glance. “A heir to our throne. Not a mindless creature of Void, but something that will grow, and flourish as our kingdoms stands”  
The King only had one reply “No- there shall be no one to even think about taking my throne. This Kingdom with be everlasting, and I shall be King evermore”  
“Then I shall not help you, Wyrm , I only ask for a simple spawn and you deny me? What about the countless that would spawn from God and Void?”  
“The Void will be tools, puppets, hollow creatures to trap away the Light and keep this Kingdom safe from her overwhelming presence” The King responded to the question with a monotone voice.  
“Then as I stated before, I will not help you in your quest until I get a heir” the White Lady explained.  
The King needed the White Lady’s help. He could not create the perfect vessel without her, he would deal with the heir later.  
“Fine, my beloved.” The King gave in as both of them stepped out of the Abyss “I will give you a heir in return of your cooperation.”


	2. The Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Queen didn’t move for days. Humming to her child. She promised herself that this one would never befall the fate of its siblings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This deals with child death  
> I marked it with a —  
> Please be cautious  
> Also enjoy!

The White Lady tended to her clutch in the deep in the White Palace, the pristine white eggs laid undisturbed surrounded by her pale limbs. She hadn’t moved in days, keeping the eggs warm and protected in her grasp. Humming quietly to her unborn children she closed her eyes and relaxed to the sound of her own tune. Suddenly a knock at the nursery door sounded throughout the entire room breaking the tune.

“May I come in My Lady?” Sounded a muffed voice from outside. The Wyrm, The White Lady realized. She looked down at the eggs. She was promised only one heir, but instead her clutch quickly became six instead of one.

“Yes, My Wyrm, but do please be quiet” she answered softly. Dreading the conversation that was bound to take place. She wrapped her limbs a bit tighter around the clutch carefully not to damage them. The door creaked open with a pale claw pushing it forward. The Pale King walked into the nursery looking first at his Queen, then glancing down to see five more eggs then he had promised. He stared into the Lady’s blue eyes.

“I said one.” He said quietly, but leaving no room for argument “one is one too many, but our deal was not six”

“I am sorry my King, but this is just the way things have to be” the Queen responded steadily.

“No. I said one and here you are with six!” His voice rose a decibel as he continued “Keep one and throw the rest into the Abyss, for all I care- I will not have more then one heir” the King commanded knowing the Lady would disagree with her actions, but he already gave her the privilege to have a single heir, not a whole clutch.

“No! My Wyrm please let me keep my children I wish for nothing else but them” the Lady cried, tearing dripping down fromher eyes onto the white eggs below her.

“No, I am sorry my beloved, but we made a deal and you must keep it- get rid of them” the King responded getting back down to a quiet voice. A sniffling cane from the Queen as she stared down at her precious children. She couldn’t pick just one, not while the others had a chance of life. She shakily lifted a limb above the ground. She looked by at the Pale King in desperation hoping he would change his mind. When the King’s mind was set on a goal he never stopped until he achieved it. This time would be no different.

—

A deafening sound filled the whole nursery. Five broken eggs, like pieces of glass stuck out below the queens limb as she sobbed in the loss of life. Oh! what they could have done. What thoughts they could of thought of. What memories, what pain, what joy, what sorrow, would have filled their lives. Now dust scattered around the broken eggs like dreams. After awhile the dust floated to the ground and stilled- like the lives of the children that had once lived. Tears still poured out of the Queens eyes as she looked at her dead children.

 

The King looked at his Queen crying . Sadness gripped at his chest like a worm crawling around his heart and squeezing it till it shattered. He looked at the egg shells in a state of solemn silence. After the Queens crying turned to sniffs. The Pale King looked at the one unbroken egg. It was definitely the runt of the clutch- being smaller than its now dead siblings. The Queen lifted her limb off the egg shells stirring the dust that settled. She slowly wrapped two limbs around the unbroken egg and cradled it to her body. She hummed a quiet tune, comforting the egg and herself. She looked back at the King in sadness.

“Are you not happy, My King? for I have saved you from competition for the throne” she cried again tears refilling her eyes.

“While I am saddened by the lost of my spawn, we can not be chained down by the past” The King began, burying his feelings with his words. “No Cost too Great, my dear. For every lost life today with be one saved tomorrow”

“S-Spawn?” The White Lady began “that’s all they were to you? They ar-were my children- not just some mindless drone like the creatures born in the Abyss” she cradled the egg in her limbs like a lifeline afraid just the slightest falter and it would shatter like its siblings.

“Please leave, My Wyrm, you have hurt me enough” the White Lady finished wanting to be alone with her only child. Well the only one that wasn’t dead or dripped in Void. 

The King let out a breath that he didn’t know he had in.

“I am very sorry beloved, but what done is done” he said as he moved towards the door. “Remember, you still have more to do more for me” he finished stepping back into the hallway.


	3. The Heir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Heir hatches and The King has an idea.

Sometime later, The now single egg was close to hatching. The White Lady barely left its side in the nursery, paranoid that the moment she left it would hatch. The broken egg shells of the siblings had been swept up off and put in a ceramic urn that sat on a high shelf in the nursery. Suddenly a small sound came from below the Lady. She looked down and saw the pristine egg shell with a barely visible crack in it. The first emotion that went through the White Lady was panic. Worried that she somehow cracked it. Then came the euphoria. Pure joy swept away the panic as she registered that her baby was close to pipping. As if on command a knock came from the door. The Pale King, The Queen guessed, she couldn’t even comprehend the Kings request to come in. She couldn’t contain her excitement with a tiny child about to be introduced to the world. The door opened and the Pale King stepped back in “My Lady, are you okay?” He began “you didn’t answer the door” the King walked over and saw the Lady’s eyes stuck on the egg below. He looked at the egg then noticed why she wasn’t answering. The tiny body inside the egg had piped and a small white shell was able to be seen underneath. A child moved from inside and revealed two black slits resembling eyes.

“Oh my word, they are beautiful” the White Lady spoke quietly. The Pale King gave a nod of certainty staring at the egg in anticipation. The spot of the pip got bigger and crack lines formed around the rest of the egg. The membrane around thesmall bug had broken once it had started to move and fluid seeped out onto the floor. The tiny head finally pushed out and the egg wobbled due to the offset of weight. Tiny claws flexed on the nursery floor and chips filled the quiet room. The child wiggled the rest of it body with two lower limbs as legs and two claws that clawed desperately at the ground. The White Lady was frozen with happiness as her child had successfully made it out of the egg without help. A shrill cry filled the air and the Lady snapped out of her frozen state. She wrapped her limbs around the child and held it close to her uncaring about the fluid that dripped off the baby. A happy like chip echoed throughout the room with a warm body smoothening it as the large being huggedthe small child. The White Lady pulled away from her spawn and inspected them for issues and just to take in the helpless babe. Like as they saw in the egg- two black holes were eyes, but unable to see anything in focus. Three pairs of stubs sat on top of the child’s oval shell. The first pair closest to the eyes, but still close to the top of the head were just small bumps. The next pair in the middle that were directly on top were already growing and were the largest of the three sets. The last pair were small points on the shell, but the Lady could tell they would grow in time. A pure black lean body came from below the skull and tiny claws reached out for their mother. Tiny legs were useless under the child and would not be able to walk and run for months. The White Lady also noticed that her child was female and her heart exploded with love for her new daughter. Her new heir.

“May I see them, My Queen?” Said the Pale King beside her. She had totally forgotten about him being in the room and answered.

“Yes, My King, look at our beautiful daughter we have created together” she said in happiness. She handed the new born to her husband as he took the childwith new uncertainty. The babe whined for the warmth of their mother, but the protectiveness that stirred from the father calmed the child. The cold body reminded her of the cold egg that she had escaped from. She cuddled close to the white shell that held her and promptly fell asleep.

The Pale King who held the child in his arms was in awe of the tiny body that was asleep.

“What shall be her name?” The Queen asked trying not to stir the child.

“Nathera, The Fragment of this Kingdom” the King said strongly. A fierce protective rising up in his chest.

The King laid the baby in the cradle that was in the nursery. He gave a slight cough unable to change the subject so drastically.

“My darling, now that you have your heir, you need to help me with my project” he said unemotionally.

“Of course, My Wyrm” The Queen began “you have fulfilled you part of the deal and I fulfill mine”

 

The King looked back at the cradle as he was leaving. An idea coming into his head. Even with the protectiveness that had manifested, He couldn’t help himself. Now that he had thought of it he couldn’t get it out. He had already created the Kingsmould and Wingsmould. Why would another experiment be bad? Knowing the Queen would disapprove he kept the thought to himself as he stepped out of the nursery. Back to the workshop it would seem for this would be different then anything else he had done before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of a cliffhanger  
> Thanks for reading!  
> please Rate and Review. This is my first story and I would love to hear feedback or (constructive) criticism. 
> 
> Next time we will actually get into plot and stuff. These chapters were just here for set up.


	4. The Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the darkness really isn’t that scary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah this is a sort of an AU btw. I don’t have a great understanding of lore(if there is any) so you just have to deal with my universe. I worked on this chapter for a couple days so I hope you enjoy it :)
> 
> Thanks

Chapter 4 TheVoid

“Father? Where are we going?” said a young bug clutching her fathers hand as they walked out of the Palace to some unknown place.  
“Somewhere special, Nathera” said the King guiding his daughter deep into the basin.  
Nathera got quiet knowing that she would just have to wait. Her father was a bug of few words and no matter how hard she asked for clarification.  
The pair came to a stop at a large dark door with the Kings Brand glowing brightly, engraved on the door. As soon as the King glanced at the door the brand disappeared and the door opened. Inside all Nathera could see was blackness. She clutched her fathers cloak in fear as he stepped inside. 𝘛𝘰𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 she thought to herself as her father walked closer to the edge of the platform.  
“W-Where are we?” The timid bug stuttered. She looked down and immediately regretting it. As she looked down in the darkness, she couldn’t even see the bottom. Smaller platforms littered the way down into the unknown with tiny white shells sat unmoving on some.  
“This is the Abyss, child” her father began “The kingdoms life depends on what is made here, you shall be made witness to its event” he spoke unemotionally looking down without fear into the newly named Abyss.  
Before Nathera responded a white shell, like the ones littered around, came into view. A white shell with black eyes and a par of horns long and smooth trailed up high. A tiny bit longer then Nathera’s longest. A dark navy cloak fluttered around the creature as Nathera looked at the tiny thing in curiosity. The thing jumped from one platform to another coming better into view as they now where one jump away from the platform she stood on with her father.  
“Who are they?” The princess began quietly “I have never seen anyone like them”  
“Not a them- an it, my creations shall seal the Light and save the Kingdom once and for all” he answered. Right as he finished saying this the creature took a leap off the ledge with an attempt to make it to the larger one they were standing on. Nathera still hid behind the white cloak of her father as the being jumped the ledge. After a few moments Nathera couldn’t hear the landing of the thing on the ledge and looked in anticipation as where the creature had gone. The being wasn’t on the ledge nor was it on the ledge it was standing on before. Wondering where it had gone she questioned her father- who had seen the whole thing.  
“Father?” She began “wher-” she was cut off by a large crack like sound echoed though the Abyss. She jumped in surprise and tiny tears welled up in her eyes. The shock of the sound combined with fear that was building with the darkness. The thing had fallen and crashed, if it was still alive she had no idea.  
“The Vessels” The King stated noticing the wet tears staining his cloak “...are hollow things. Undeserving of your tears, The Pure One will come and make the jump, the first hurdle of its many trials”. Nathera rubbed her eyes with her white cloak that mimicked her fathers. The King then picked up his daughter, held her in his arms and looked at her.  
”Are you ready, child?”  
She clutched the front of his cloak and locked herself in place. Her father had done this many times and each time it never got any less enjoyable, but down into the depths made her hesitant. She gave a slight nod and without warning the King jumped off the ledge. Wings spreading out behind him as they fell down into the depths. Nathera clutched her father, scared to fall out of his arms. The large wings slowed their descent safety to the ground with a crunch of the ground beneath the pair. The King put down Nathera on the ground gently. Nathera felt a odd crunch below her feet and looked down. Large black eyes stared back at her and she jumped in surprise. A large crack ran up the shell and hundreds of the same shell with slightly different features and cracks.  
“F-Father?” She asked “c-can we go h-home now?”  
“Not yet, we still have work to do” her father spoke steadily. She looked around the area unwilling to look back at the ground. Many creatures like she saw the ledge filled the area on the ground unflinching as they stood over the skulls of the dead things that looked just like them. Many looked at the King, some looked off at the top of basin when the light of the entrance was just visible. Some also looked at Nathera, but she was to scared to return their unnerving stares. It was completely silent except for the occasional body that fell off a ledge and back to the bottom, some dead and some getting up with cracks on their shells. The King started to move across the Abyss and Nathera stayed close terrified of the things that were continuing to move up the platforms. They walked in silence as the King stopped at a large dark lighthouse and looked up. A mumble escaped the King as he looked down at his spawn.  
“Stay here” he commanded “I will be back- someone hasn’t turned on the light house and I must deal with it”  
“Y-yes, Father” she said nervous to be down here by herself, but knew she couldn’t disobey her Father. The King then took off, landing on the ledges leading up to the lighthouse. Nathera took this time to look at the pitch black lake that the lighthouse stood over. Being ever the curious child she stood over the lake and hesitatingly stuck a hand out- attempting to feels the substance. Suddenly out of the depths of the lake shot up a tendril as dark as the lake latching onto Nathera arm. A yelp escaped her and she pulled back as hard as she could hoping the thing would let go of her. She couldn’t get a good hold on the ground below and her feet were slipping as the tendril kept pulling, gaining ground and trying to drag her into the lake. The tendril was almost successful at it attempt to pull her in when a light that blinded her and a weight was lifted off her arm. When her eyes readjusted to the new light. She found the tendril was gone like it was never there. She clutched her arm and sat down. The white cloak billowed around her and she took a breath. After a few seconds in silence (except for her uneven breaths) her father stood next to her. He didn’t even made a sound when coming down she thought absentmindedly.  
“Get up, spawn, for today you will be bathed in the Void and shall start your witness of this event” the King spoke, a booming voice echoing off the walls of the cavern. Nathera was confused what he was talking about and stood up, dusting off her white cloak.  
“But, Father” she argued, the higher voice echoing off “I am already clean!”  
The King let out a breath of laughter and looked across the lake that was illuminated by the lighthouse.  
“Oh, how naïve you are” he said with another breath of laughter “Come now, we must not waste time, for time is no luxury” the younger bug grumbled to herself as she was lifted back up into her father’s arms as he jumped and flew across the large lake of Void. When they came to a stop there was a huge corpse of a bug hunched over, holding a bowl like object and blackness spilled out of it. The King sat the timid bug down nudging her forward toward the large husk.  
“Go, child, clean yourself in the Abyss” he commanded.  
She looked at him in shook. He wanted her to go up to the scary looking bug get in the bowl he was holding- which was full of blackness, the same blackness that a tendril came out and tried to drag her down? She loved her father, and she definitely couldn’t ignore a command that came from him so directly, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t argue.  
“But Father!” She argued “that bug looks scary! And the blackness tried to eat me!”  
Her father didn’t listen to her pleas and gave a more forceful nudge to the large husk. She fought against the push and kicked up the the Void on the ground was splashed right onto the tiny cloak. She stopped and grabbed the end of it. Her mother had sewn it and now it was dirty with blackness and it would probably take days to get it out and thats if it _didn’t_ stain. Her father stopped pushing and turned her around taking a claw and putting under her shell, angling it up so she had to look at him.  
“You will not argue with me, spawn, go or I will leave you here without any escape” he threatened. Nathera immediately stopped her protests and clutched her fathers wrist, still on her chin.  
“P-please don’t leave me here!” She cried ”I p-promise I’ll be good!” Her father let go of her shell and pointed to the bowl overflowing with Void.  
“Go” with the simple command she started to walk towards the corpse careful not to get any more Void on her cloak. She soon made it to base of the bug and look back at her father hoping he would change his mind. He gave her a stern look and tilted his head upwards towards the bowl. She let out a breath as she jumped with her hands raised high above her. She was a bit too short to reach the bowl so she tried again. After a couple tries she looked back at her father not wanting to climb the bug to the bowl. Her father didn’t say a word but gave her a look of ‘really?’ But didn’t make a move to help her. Another sigh escaped her and she moved to the side of the husk and started to make the climb to the bowl. The bug wasn’t very hard to climb and nothing happened when climbing. It was sturdier then she thought but that was really it. She stood the at the edge of the bowl, hesitant to go near it. The Void in the bowl looked scary, but she couldn’t disobey. Even more so after he told her he would leave if she didn’t do what he said. As she was about to put her foot in the bowl she noticed she still had her cloak on. She thought to herself about what Mother would say if she got more than one stain on the cloak and you don’t wear a cloak when taking a bath so why would she wear her cloak now? She took off her cloak leaving her tiny black body open and the starts of wings on her back. She dipped her foot into the bowl and it was oddly cold, not the cold from her father or when it was chilly at night. But an unnatural cold. She pulled her foot out the water unsure what she should do now. Then she remembered that her father said to bath in the bowl or something along those lines. She put her foot back into the bowl and then stuck her other one in. She slowly sunk the into the bowl up to her chest. Tiny wisps of blackness floated off the bowl as she focused. The Void felt warm now, relaxing into the dark. Nothing around her bothered her, not the large husk of a bug, not her father....she drifted off her mind slow and heavy not noticing the shadows that crept around her and wrapped around her like a snake. The last thought that went through her head was if this is what her father had wanted.  
—  
She came back to conscious suddenly, slight whispering pricked at the edge of her mind. She first noticed the soft comfort of her cloak- a stain on the edge of it. She looked at the stain in curiosity wondering why it was on there.  
_Oh_  
She jumped off the ground as her eyes darted around wondering where she was. There was no light. Darkness covered the whole area, She couldn’t any type of floors or walls- much less then she saw to escape. She looked down at herself and noticed her hands were more, wispy? then usual. She could barely see the outline of where she ended and the space she was inside started. Her white cloak still billowed around her as she moved around the unknown area. Though her cloak still touched the ground she felt taller then she actually was. She felt her horns trying to see what had changed. The first pair were inverted framing her shell. The middle pair stretched up and long gaining a slight curve as they trailed back. The third pair were still short, trapped between the middle pair. Now this was different. Her mother had told her that her horns would grow out when she got older, but last time she checked they were still just points on her shell. Her shell was now black as her eyes were now white trying to find something, anything in the darkness  
“Father?” She whispered- her father was strong he could get her out of here right? Indistinct voices grew more intense around her mind as four pairs of white eyes blinked out of the darkness staring deep into her soul.  
“Y͑ͮ̓̌ͦ̀͏͕̭̝͍̞ͅo͈̤͙̿̑͆̽́ͥu͔̟ͅ ̫̣̻̭̏̀ͩd̪̬̥̍͒͐͊͡ô̮̼̇̐͛͛͡ ̙ͩ̿n̄͗̾͂ͥ͗o̬̠̊t̸̜̲̭̦̗̥̂̆ͧͬ̂ ̄̈́̑̀̈b̙̩͖̥̦̥͘ẹ̞̫͋͒ͦ̚͡l͐̈̊̾ͧ̽̅ơ̗͈̺̦̠̱̇ͭ̐͋͐̓n̾͆g̞̎̑̇͊̈̚ ͈͘h̸͔̭̜̝̹̅ͯ̒̄̍̚e̡̖̬̪͔͉̓ͣ̀͑r҉͙̟e̞̯̯̰͑ͥ,̴̇ͥ̉̈́͋͑ ̴c̶̒̃̄́ͦͨ̇h̖͔͔̭̑í̼̃̀ͣ͂l̳͚̒̉̿͑̾̐͠d̫̪͇͍̒” said a deep and commanding voice that broke though the whispers in her mind. The little bug jumped in fear as she looked around trying to see what had talked to her. She found the eyes that appeared and she knew, she could feel it in her body and soul it was powerful.  
“I a-am s-s̴orry” she stuttered “My f-father told me to c̴ome̷ h-here” mumbling afterward “if I even know where ‘here’ is”  
The eyes spoke again in a calm but furious tone “T͛́͆ͬ̀h̙̟̦̼̻̅ͅa͙̞͓̮̘̣t̯̳̼̝ ͈̝̯̮͚̯ͨ̏ͤ̃ͥ̽̐ͅW̴y͍̹ͮͪ̌̚r̲̻̖͚͙͖̎̿͟ṁ̖̻̩̤̀͆ͦ̐ͧͭ ͕̝͇̤́͡į̋͛̽̽̾ͅs͔̜ t̵ͥͤ͌ͫ͐ͪͤe̶̗͍̯̳͔̱͙̋ͮs̺̩̪̭̫͖ͫͬ̅̇ͭ̆t̻̘̭͙̤̿̉ͨͣ̂̀̄ḭ̝̦̮̼̪͉͒͛͌ͮ̿ͫ̈͜ñ̸̺̬̦̫̠̝ͫ̅ġ̦̆̃̾̾ ̧ṃ̍̏̍̌̃e̬̖̽̄̋ͧ̀-̳̪̺͙̯̲̪ ͩ͑̌̔̔̎҉sͬ̆̌̇͌͞e͖̙̫̲̙̱̤ͦ́n̍d͇̲̥̦̫͈͊̈̈̓͡i̼̲̘ͭ͐̋ͥͦṇ̭̘͙͚̝̈ͨ͑̉̓̉g͉͙͗͝ͅ ̻̅̈́͋͂ì̟̤̮̹̤̙͜ͅt̻̹̟̗’͈̩̥̓͌͡ͅs̉̿ͦ̒ ̑̊̈́̄̐̕o͖̗̣͓͝w̷̏̏͊̓́̆ͬn̷̪͓͍̟̺ͥͅ ̳͙̤̖̎s͖͍̹̗̅͘p̵͓ͨ̉̾̈́̇a͎̪̲̣̎ͥ̎w͍̝̺͈̮͝ṅ̙̣͘ ̧̪̟̳̪͔̫͈ͬͦ͑ͧ͌i͕̬̔̌̌̍ͥ͊n̅̊̆̆͜t̗̖̪̖ͦ̇̈́͟o̤͙̝̫̜͆͌ m̑͗́ͮͮ͏̬̖͔̦͓̪̹y̝̱̗̘̲ͭ ̫̞̙̙̽d̙̠ͮ́͛̆̔̈́ó̼̻̩̪͔̝̳ͧ̿̃ͬͣ̈́͞m͂̅ͤ̅̇̑͡a̝̞͚͍ͭ̔ͬͨ̆̌̋ỉ̘̱͕̠͇ͥͫ͑̂̀͒̕nͨ̊̔̇͏̜͖̗̲̥̘̮.͇̼̤͑̈́ͭ̃̓”  
The young bug was terrified of the creature and she bowed her head in fear  
“You are p-powerful y-yes?” She questioned, the eyes had a curious glint in it. “Then p-please s-send me b-back to my h-home, t-to the W-White P-Palace”  
The being behind the eyes took a second to think about this child in the Void. No doubt it was the spawn between the Root and Wyrm. Like the others they had made, but unlike the creature still stuck in the Abyss, this child hadn’t been born from the Void. The Wyrm must have sent them here to be reborn in Void for some experiment of his. The Lord of Shade looked at the meek bug that bowed her head, knowing the moment she relaxed into the, Void had invaded her body claiming a portion as its own. The Lord made up its mind deciding to play the Wyrm’s game.  
“I͐̈̋̌͂̂҉͓̦̤ ͑ẅ̴͙̯̪͈̜ͧi̹̼̠̓̓͐́l̜̦̲͕̥͇̅̍ͬ̍l̢̝͍͚̒́ͬ̄̾ ̷̙͇̖̯̃̊̏sͯ̅̿͛̌e͋͒ͩͬ̍̚҉̤̯n͈̘̖̥͔̤̈͗ͫͫ̂̚dͩ͏̮͚̲̠̘͉͔ ̴̟y͚͔͛ͤ̅̂́̚o͉̫͓̟̔͊̃̊ͭ͑ͦu͚̚ ̦̺̫̜͎ͫ́̚b̴̝̦͈̭ͪ̍̎̊̈a̷͙̦͉ͫ̀̎̿͋̽͌c̸̹̲͖̻̀̓̔k̗̩̒̈͒̈ ̫̀t̰̱̱͍͈̥̃̉oͥ̇̐ͩ͞ ͓̫̥̆̂y͓ͭ̑͌ͪ͂́o̬̤̹̩͌ͮ̌ͣͧ̈̚͞u͍̟̖̅ͤ̃ͬ̓ͧ͋r̴̤̝̭͚̙̞ͦ ̥̘̰̎͛̓͑͛͛͢f̡̙̠̫̝̬̥ͤ̄ą͉͍̹̫̮͍̊ṫ̋̆̈̓҉̮̖̘h̥͇̳͓͆ͬ͐̊e̝̪͕̣̮̳͊̑r̵͕̪̼͚̝̳̟ͩ͂ͮ̏͋,̳̬̟̦͍͚͓͛̽ ̹͝s̼̭ͯ̿̍ͫ̉ͅͅm̱̙̻̺̣̮̜ǎ̩̎̑̓ͭͩͥl̵̜̯̖̼̯͚͔̓̅ͦ̎l͔̙͖̲͂̈̂̊͋ͨ̇ ͎̈́͋̌͋̆͟ơ̫̬͇̮̳͇̤ͮ͂̈́n̻̓ͭ̈̊e̳̿̇͗ͭ͡,̼̗ͪ̎ͩ ̷̪̖̘̋ͦ́ͥ͂̀j̦̥̺͖͆̈ͯ̉ͥ̚u̹͈͓͙̼̞̓͌̔͂̓ͭ͌͝s͇̺͕̺ͫt̷̰̟̬̞̝̥̩͋ͣ̓͛͑͊̆ ̼̖̋̓k͓̩̤̭͉̥̂̾͐̀ͨ͝n̴̅͆ȏ̝̟̫̗̥̙͑̏ͥ̔̓w͓͇̖͕͙̾̉͊̐͒̾̎͞ ̱̱̣̯̠̼̻͛̏ͫ̓ͤt̰̳̱͔̃̚ͅo̤̩̯̬̙͘ ̺̈̕n͖̞̬͓̟͈ͤͨ͑̉ē̜͕̘͇͚̹͊̓̑̓v̟́͋ͫͪͯ̓eͪ̆ͥ̀̒̂̋҉̥̹̺r̘̻͍̹̍̋͆̚ ̨͋ͫ̈́ͤ͂tͦ̎r̘̹͈̦̠ͪ̉ͥ̔͊̚u̬͙͙̗̱̰̘̍͒̿̂ͤ̉͞s̘̞̯̱̼̝̒̀͌̐ͮtͤ͋̐̇ͦ͆̈ ͙̍̌ͨ̇͐͛̚͞t̩̹̥̐ͧ̉͂͒͛ͩ͠h̦͓͝ǎ̩ͯt̵͐̿̒ ͉̹̣ͦͤ̈͝W̮̼ͨ̋ͯͩ̉ͧy̜ͪ͛ͥ̌̏ͯr̬͇͙̼̗m̅̇́ͮͬ ̨̈́̾̊̎ͯ̎w̻͍̳͎̋̿ͯ̀h̛̞̩̖̖͕̲͙̍o̒̀ͥ́̽ ̬̰͘s̬̠̹̗̩͉̎̉ͦ͒̐̑p̀͊ͥ͆͏̭̦͈̠ͅa̝̤̓ͩ̅̄̅̃ͅw̵̪͕̙̳̣͚͙̍̂̒ͤ̄ͩn̩̠̩ͦ̓ͯ̾͊͢ḛ̝d̤̓ͮ̅̿͜ ̦͓̳̰̺y̷͇͚̻̬̔̊ͤ̆o̖̙̤̲̜u̵͎ͨ.̷̣̼͍ͣ̽̉̌̉ ̸̘͔̤͓̹̈H̡͙̬ͬ̄ͅe̴̬ ̛͙͇͉̝͍̳ͭ̌͂ͨͪl̐̆ͯ͒ỉ͉͙ͥͤ͞ẻ̯̬̩̺̟̻̗ͯ͡ș̟̩̟̟̬͍ͯ̉ͯͪ ̧̱̱̩̭̞̪̂̾ͬa̾̀҉̼͉ņ̳̪̪̉ͬ̿ͫd̤͉̟ͅ ̵̦͆̂͐̉ͪ̃ͯm̪̭̠̅̈͒ͅa̗̤ͧ̑̓ͮṅ̰̗̙̭͒̅̋͢i̽ͦ̇̅͋͢p͇̫̕u̵͇̾ͭ̍̽lͯ͗͆͝ḁ̷̗̫̿͐ͬ͛ͩͫ̆t̆̉̀e̝̓̓̑̓s͉͚̣̰ͩ̿̆ͅ” The being finished waving a claw, invisible to the small bug. Before said bug could respond she blacked out once again.  
—  
When she came to, a pure white cloak focused into view. She was lifted up into the arms of the unknown being and spoken to.  
“Nathera? Are you awake child?” Came a familiar voice. She clutched to her father as she noticed they were back to the ledge of the top of the Abyss. Voices at the edge of her mind faded slowly as they exited and the door closed behind them. She fell back asleep, in the comfort of her father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the anticlimactic ending. I just finished there and couldn’t continue anyways 
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> please Rate and Review. This is my first story and I would love to hear feedback or (constructive) criticism.


	5. The Babysitter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Nathera parents are off doing royal stuff she has to stay with the King’s most trusted; The Watcher. Nathera wants to explore but Lurien is having none of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was late I try to get out a chapter about every week and this one just weirdly took awhile. This was an idea and I had to write it also I kinda put a bunch of ideas into this chapter so sorry for all the jumping around. Kinda a break from plot(even though I’m only one chapter in) but also kinda has plot. Also btw I use a writing thing where italics are marked by a /[Word]/   
> Enjoy!

—The Babysitter—

“How could you, my Wyrm?” Cried a voice from down the hall. “How could you feed my only true heir to the Void?”

“No cost too great, my dear” said another voice calmly explaining. “She is fine anyways, not dead or hurt” the voice elaborated. A tiny head peaked into the room the two higher beings were arguing- they suddenly got quiet as they both looked at the bug that had interrupted. Said tiny bug was very confused at why her parents were arguing, she felt fine. She wasn’t even eaten by the eyes in the darkness! What a relief.

“Why are you arguing?” She said as she voiced her thoughts “I’m fine. The creature sent me back so why are you worried?” Her mother, The Queen, rushes over and embraced her child “Oh! I’m so sorry child” she cried “I am horrible mother! Leaving my own child in the Abyss!, like so many others that had came before it!” She wept before giving Nathera a bone crushing hug with her limbs- scared to even let go of her child. Nathera wiggled our of her mother’s limbs and dusted herself off- her cloak now free of Void.

“Mother!” Nathera said “I’m fine! Like I said Master there didn’t even hurt me!” Both parents stopped, then looked at their child with some version of dread.

“The Master?” Both of higher beings seemed to ask at the same time.

“Well, I assumed they were the Master” she started “they were very powerful, I could feel it”

The higher beings looked at each other the Queen, with a tiny amount of horror and the King with curiosity, Nathera barely noticed.

“Well, beside that” he said cutting onto the silence “the Queen of Deepneet is ready to accept the deal, but she requires something and asked both of us to be there” the King said sounding uninterested. The White Lady nodded, but then she backtracked and grabbed ahold of her spawn who was just about to leave and go back to her drawings in her room.

“What about dear Nathera? She cannot go with us, and the Palace is much too big for just her” The Queen said with grace.

“I will call my Watcher” responded the King shortly. Nathera watched her parents discussing, like she wasn’t even in the room!

“Hey! Don’t I get to decide? I wanna stay here, I’ll be fine” voiced Nathera in protest. The King looked at his spawn. She had grown more rebellious lately. He suspected that the new development was due to the Void pulsing through her body. Her horns had grown as well- just a couple of inches more then it was before. 

“No” the King shot down her request with little thought “You will stay with My Watcher” the little bug huffed and crossed her arms.

“But Father!” She started

“No”

“Please?” She tugged on her fathers cloak looking up at him.

“No” he looked down meeting her eyes.

“Pretty Please?”

“No”

“Pretty Pretty Please?”

“No”

A giggle interpreted the two. Both stopped and looked at the White Lady.

“I’m sorry, sweetie” she said to Nathera “but, the Palace is too large, and don’t worry, the Watcher is a nice bug” she finished “you’ll like him”

“Fine, Mother” she finished turning to leave and wander or go back to her room.

“Oh and darling” the Queen said quietly. Said bug looked back at her mother

“Yes?”

“Please do be careful”

“About what, Mother?” Nathera questioned.

“Just...Just be careful” the mother said cryptically before waving off her spawn and turning back to her husband. The younger bug leaving in confusion back to her room.

“The Void has consumed part of her” said the King

“I know” the Queen said somberly “I could sense it the moment she came back to the Palace, I just have one question, My Wyrm”

“Yes?”

“Why? What was the goal of offering her to the Void- like a lowly sacrifice?” She questioned.

“She must be the Witness” said Wyrm said shortly. “To truly be the Witness to this great accomplishment she had to be reborn in Void”

“I think that is an excuse” The Root rebutted. The King looked at her with a curiosity expression.

“Oh?”

“I think that was an excuse for one of your experiment, like the Knights and Wingsmould” the Queen said continuing “I think you just wanted another plaything and your own spawn was the perfect candidate”

“I truly love my daughter, but my Kingdom comes first. The Old Light threatens this land and I will not lose it” The King defended waving a hand out the door, a retainer coming quickly to his aid. The small bug bowed in front of their King.

“Y-Yes? My King?” The bug stuttered not daring to lift their head.

“Fetch My Watcher I have a task for him”

 

——

Lurien had been having a peaceful evening in his Spire. Watching his city, occasionally painting. That had all stopped when he received a summons from the Palace. He was terrified to leave his spire, but the thought of serving his King outweighed his anxiety.The moment he had reached the Ancient Basin where the Palace sat in its magnificent glory. Bugs went in and out of the Palace entrance and the Kings knights stood watch over the area. Every time he was called to the White Palace, he still couldn’t get over the beauty of the Palace, well that’s why he build the City, in the honor of his magnificent King. He walked into the Palace with purpose and reached the throne door. Where there was significant less bugs only an occasional retainer that served directly in the Palace. He gave a short but steady knock at the door hoping he didn’t disturb his Sire. A soft ‘Come in’ was heard as he stepped inside bowing immediately to his King.

“Come forward, Watcher, I have a task of great importance for you” The King spoke with grace. Said bug immediately stood and walked up to the throne and kneeled.

“Of course, My King, I would do anything”

“The Princess requires watching, andyou shall watch her for the time being” he said waving a hand as another retainer came to him speaking softly and the retainer scurrying off

“The P-Princess?” Lurien said flabbergasted that King had an Heir though it wasn’t he place to question the King he couldn’t help himself.

“An H-Heir?” Lurien stuttered he was about to say more but then a little bug dressed in a white cloak with three pairs of horns still in the process of growing only raising a couple of inches off their shell. The tiny bug looked at Lurien in suspicion and walked to the King.

“You called, Father?” The bug started “who is that?” motioning to Lurien. Said bug was in shock, just learning about this development.

“This is Lurien, My Watcher” said the father of the heir. The King then addressed the kneeling bug.

“My task for you is to watch my spawn, I must attend to other areas that surround the Kingdom. You must care for the heir of the kingdom” the King commanded “Will you, Watcher, accept this task asked of you, by your King?”

“Of course, My Light, I would gladly watch the Heir of the Kingdom” Lurien put his hand over his heart basking in his King’s Light.

—

The Heir was not excited for this. She didn’t want to leave the Palace, the other time she left she was forced to bath in the bowl and meet the scary creature in the darkness. She frowned at her father wishing she could go against his wishes. Especially not when one of his subjects were in the room.

“Nathera” it wasn’t a question

“Yes, Father?” She responded

“I expect you to behave outside the Palace”

“Yes Father”

She trailed next to her Father’s Watcher as they walked in silence. Lurien was surprised at the thought of her existence and was terrified to converse with her. Nathera didn’t want to be there, she just wanted to go back to her room and draw. Maybe when she would get back, she would draw over the wall in her room. That would show her Father for making her leave. They walked out of the Palace and got into a carriage that was waiting for them. Lurien stepped aside, letting the Princess go in first. She looked at the carriage then back the Watcher.

“Aren't you supposed to go in first?” Nathara questioned not used life outside the Palace.

“No, My Lady, you are royalty, you can go in first” Lurien said unsure where this conversation was going. He had been born into severing the King and the thought of going in before anyone that had his blood would be blasphemy to the royal line.

The heir looked confused, but climbed into the carragine anyways. Lurien followed her in and sat down opposite of her.

The tiny bug who had barely been ever out the Palace stared outside the window with curiosity. Lurien took note a started conversation as they came up to the capital.

“Have you never been here before?”

“No. Father never let me out of Palace.” Rain fell and hit the window as Nathera looked at all the bugs crowding the walkways going to who knows where. Her curiosity was overflowing and she wanted to go out and see everything the world had to offer. The Palace paled in comparison to the magnificent city. Bugs walking, rain falling from the sky. She had been born in the Pale Light and haven’t seen much different then the blue of her mothers eyes and the black of her fathers throne. The now explosion of color was beautiful, blues, purples and greens filled the streets as she looked on with wonder.

The carriage stopped abruptly in front of a large spire that reached higher then she could see. The minute the door opened she hopped out splashing water on the tips of her white cloak. Lurien got out a second later aiming to get the child in the spire before she could attract any attention.

He looked around for said child, but couldn’t spot the familiar cloak that resembled her father. Panic spread like a wildfire through his being. Not even five minutes in the city and he lost her. The streets were crowded and it would be impossible to find her. His single eye darted around the area looking for her signature white cloak. After spotting a flash of white he took off after it hoping he could find her and get her back to the spire before the King found out and decided to get a new Watcher.

—

Saying Nathera loved the city would be an understatement. The city was everything the Palace wasn’t. Lots of color, lots of interesting bugs and creatures. The only thing she didn’t like was the noise. She could barely hear herself think unlike the quiet Palace and the sheer around of bugs that were around her it was suffocating, but the overwhelming feeling of being outside pushed her criticism down deep inside her. Rain from above dripped down on her shell as she tried to look up and see where it was coming from but the water got in her eyes and she had to look away. She picked up her cloak so it would not be drenched from the constant splashing of the puddles. She had totally forgotten about her Fathers wishes and ran around the city. Cloak flying behind her and enjoying the rush of air through her lungs. The feeling of being free to roam excited her. She wondered if there was anything other than the city and what other places she could go and explore. She spotted a large tower (though not as big as the spire) with large windows and a sign next to the door. She came to a stop in front of the tower read the sign.

 

‘The Pleasure House’

Come and relax in the Hot Spring

or hear the great

Songstress Marissa

 

Intrigued by who this ‘Marissa’ was and the idea of a hot spring she took a step into the Pleasure House. Without warning a hand grabbed the scruff of her neck and hoisted her up into the air she looked in shock as it was Lurien.

“No!” she protested fighting against his hold on her “I want to go to the hot spring! Or hear this lady sing!” Lurien ever the patient bug sighed as his heart calmed as they made their was back to his Spire.

“I am sorry, Princesses, but you can’t just run off like that” he said maneuvering around bugs She made incoherent whines and after about a minute of walking she went went silent, glaring at the Watcher. He knew that saying no to the heir could spell trouble in the future if she snitched to the King, but he had faith. 

Lurien didn’t put her down until the door to the spire was securely closed and they were both up in the highest level and in Lurien personal quarters. He sat her down a pillow and she crossed her arms and looked away in a fit.

“Like I said earlier, little one” Lurien broke the silence “You can’t just run off like that- I know you wanted to go see the songstress, but you had me worried sick” Nathera didn’t look at the Lurien she stared off out of the large window that held his telescope.

“Do you want to look out my telescope?” He said trying to coax her to talk to him. She wordlessly got up from her spot and walked over to the telescope unsure how it worked she looked back at Lurien. He sat down in his normal spot where he spent the majority of his time. He gently lifted her by her arms and sat her down on his lap she was still much too short to sit up to the telescope with any help. He angled the telescope more down and spoke quietly.

“Put your eye up to it. Make sure to cover up the other one so it will focus”

She did as he said and put looked out the telescope.

—

Nathera thought the telescope was much better. She could see all the colors and bugs, but the noise was absent except of the soft pattern of rain of the window. She moved the telescope around following a family of small bugs walk through the city. She let out a sigh and looked back at Lurien who was tall above her.

“I-I’m sorry” she said bowing her head ”Father would be..displeased...with my actions, but I’ve never been out of the Palace and the city was so new and interesting. She got quiet and grey tears leaked out her eyes onto the navy cloak of Lurien. She felt arms wrap around her in a hug as she cried.

“It’s okay, princess, just don’t scare me like that again”

“O-Okay”

—

Nathera didn’t know how long they stayed like that, but fell asleep in his embrace. When she woke up Lurien was next to the window not looking through a telescope but in front of an easel with a palette in one hand and a brush in the other moving around the canvas. She got up from her spot (which was now on a bed) and stretched her shell. As it shifted a slight crack could be heard and Lurien looked back to see what the noise had came from.

“Oh, Good morning, Princess, isn’t a wonderful morning?” Said princess moved to the window and noticed it looked almost exactly as before. Rain still continued to pour onto the city and she looked at Lurien.

“Is it still raining?” She asked wondering if the downpour would ever end.

“Yes, little one, it always rains here, that’s why it’s called the City of Tears” Lurien responded going back to the painting he was working on. Nathera crept behind Lurien, who was zoned in on his painting, and peeked at his artwork. It was a landscape of the blue city, rain fell from the sky and large towers sat in the foreground and background. Lurien knew that Nathera was watching him paint and was unsure about how he felt about it. On one hand it was nice having someone with him keeping him company, but on the other hand he could feel her stare and he didn’t like others looking at his unfinished art.

“So...” Nathera broke the silence “What are we gonna do today?” Nathera was a naturally curiosity child and wanted to explore more of the city.

“I was just going to paint today, maybe you could too” Lurien said hoping he wouldn’t have to leave his spire. His butler would be taking care of things outside the spire like usual and he was very grateful that he never had to go out. Nathera came up and rugged on his cloak.

“Can we go out? Please?” She asked hoping she could explore.

“Would The King say yes?”

“No...” she admitted “but you aren’t Father! so you have to say yes!” Lurien put his brush down and laid his hand on the top of her shell where the middle pair had yet to grown in substantially and gave a breath of laughter.

“Darling, I’m not sure that’s how it works , if my King says no then I shall too”

Nathera gave a pout and then an idea popped into her head.

“Can I explore the spire?” She asked

“Yes, you can just don’t bother any of the workers or leave” he explained and the moment he finished she darted out of the chamber to find something interesting. He gave a huff and went to back to his painting.

—-

Nathera was excited, though she couldn’t leave the spire that didn’t mean she could have fun around the unfamiliar area. She came across a huge room with about a dozen large sphere like bugs with large nails that were the bigger than her. Intrigued by the large nail she walked up to the intimidating figures. The Watcher Knights has heard heard from Master Lurien that the Princess of Hallownest was here and would be exploring the tower.

“Yes, Princess?” Said one of the Knights that said princess walked up to.

“Can I hold your nail? It looks really large” she responded holding her hands up to take the nail.

“Do you know how to wield a nail correctly,little one? You look a little small for such a big nail”

“No, but Father will teach me when I get bigger, but I’m responsible I can do it!”

“Then no, not until you can use a small nail, especially not this large one” The Watcher Knight said repositioning his large nail on his shoulder. He bent down to her level(which was still tall) and looked at her.

“Wielding a nail is is a important feat. You must wield your nail with strength, no matter your stature or status. When using a nail you must wield it with purpose or your opponent will strike you down. You must use your nail for The King, or more closer, Master Lurien, that’s our job. We Watcher Knights guard Master Lurien from the dangers of anything no matter how small or large.”

Nathera barely got any of his lecture and nodded even though she didn’t completely understand. The Watcher Knight then stood up and walked Nathera to door with a finishing statement he spoke.

“Now run along, little Princess, there is much to do and time is no luxury” the Knight turned around quickly and walked away, steady steps echoing.

Nathera shook her head getting the Knights words out her mind and kept on exploring the spire.

After a couple hours of exploring every nook and cranny she yawned and made her way back up to the top of the spire where Lurien was. She was walking past the entrance of the spire and curiosity sparked in her mind. Lurien had told her not to leave, but she couldn’t help herself. She peeked outside bugs hurried across the stone roads. One small step forward and she was hit with small raindrops. She looked back inside the spire to make sure no one had seen her. After knowing no one had witnessed her escape. She darted out of the spire and ran to where she was a day earlier, The Pleasure House. After dodging some bugs she made her way to the entrance and walked in to find this songstress. Nathera walked around the Pleasure House trying to find something interesting. A sound caught her attention and made her stop, she turned to the sound and followed it. She made her way to a crowded room with a stage in the middle. Vivid pink flowers decorated the area an the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. Large pink wings and a beautiful voice echoed from the butterfly. ‘This must be Songstress Marissa” she thought to herself as she swayed to the song. After who knows long the music stopped and the singer left. Nathera hurried out of the room due to the swarm of bugs also leaving. Finding the door with soft singing was easy enough with only a minimal amount of searching. She knocked on the door lightly twice and stepped back. Not a minute later the door opened a crack and the songstress came into view. To say Marissa was confused by the tiny bug was an understatement. The tiny bug that stood in front of her door was dressed in a white cloak. Only worn by those in the royal family and here was, to her knowledge, not a member of the royal family. Marissa saw her in the crowd but she didn’t know that her whole cloak was white.

“Hello!” the tiny bug squeaked, Marissa could tell the moment she put her eyes on the smaller bug the tiny one froze with fright, but continued her sentence “M-My name is N-Nathera. I just r-really wanted to say t-that you sounded really a-amazing!” 

“Well thank you, Nathera” said Marissa unsure of the tiny bug in front of her.

Nathera covered her face in embarrassment and her flight instinct made her flee out of the Pleasure House. Marissa looked at the retreating bug on confusion and after the bug disappeared Marissa gave a shrug and closed the door getting ready for her next show.

Nathera escaped the Pleasure House and straight back into the spire. The moment she stepped foot into spire she let out a breath and put a hand over her heart, trying to calm it. Nathera regained her composure and made her way back to the top of the spire. The Watcher Knights bowed to her as she got on the elevator to Lurien. The moment she got up to the door leading to the private quarters she knocked on the door and waited for a reply.

 

 

“Did the rest of spire satisfy your curiosity little one?” Lurien said to the small princess who had laid herself on the bed at the back of the room.

“Yeah!” She jumped back up to tell Lurien about her day “everyone was so interesting and nice!”

“You didn’t leave the spire yes?” Lurien asked even though he knew the answer.Nathera’s demeanor changed instantly and she stumbled her way through a lie “Y-Yes I d-definitely didn’t l-leave the spire, I m-mean why w-would I do that?? Y-You told me not t-to s-so I d-didn’t d-do that”

“So you didn’t leave the spire at all today?” He sternly said but with a hint of playfulness

“Y-Yep!” Nathera said trying to sound sure.

“Huh, then I saw a bug that looked very similar to you leaving my spire” he said gauging her reaction

“O-Oh? W-What a c-coincidence” she laughed nervously

“Yeah, they also had the same white cloak, which only royals wear and I didn’t know any royals were coming to the city, especially ones leaving my spire” Lurien said now giving her a pointed look.

“Y-Yeah?” Nathera responded, knowing she had been caught but didn’t want to admit it.

“No more leaving this room, okay?” Lurien said delivering the punishment “you broke my trust and now you have to stay here where I can watch you” he pointed to the corner of the room “‘now go stand in the corner and think about what you did” 

Nathera was speechless. She had really never been punished, well there wasn’t much to do wrong in the Palace. She had been told to never go into Fathers Workshop, but she was too terrified to disobey him. Nathera wanted to protest, but Lurien tone was too similar to her Fathers. She wordlessly walked into the corner and faced the wall. She had been told to think about what she did but only calm rage filled her being. It was Lurien’s fault that she escaped the spire. If he had let her go into the Pleasure House the first time then she wouldn’t have gone out today. She brooded for hours as both Nathera and Lurien sat in silence. At some point Nathera has sat down still staring at the wall. Lurien said nothing and started a new painting.

“Have you learned your lesson, Princess?” Lurien said breaking the quiet.

Nathera did not but she didn’t want to sit in the corner anymore and was bored out of her mind. She found it was much easier to lie about her emotions then her actions.

“Yes” she bowed her head “I’m sorry” 

Lurien believed her words and grabbed a empty parchment with a old pen and handed her the objects. She looked at the objects in her hands then back to Lurien.

“What is this for?” She asked him

“Do whatever you want with them. You can draw, write, or even tear up the parchment and break the pen”

Nathera then took parchment and laid it on the ground and then with a stroke of inspiration she scribble figures onto the paper. Lucien went back to his painting with the added sound pen scratching.

—

Days later, Lurien had kept his punishment and she wasn’t allowed out of the top floor, sometimes Lurien left and came back at seemingly random times coming back even more nervous. Nathera ignored him and kept on drawing on her paper finishing it up. She stopped drawing and frowned at her parchment. She needed to go see Mr. Watcher Knight and ask him a question. She grabbed her supplies and went to the elevator. With Lurien gone to who knows she snuck down the top room and into the large room of the Watcher Knights and while most of them were gone(probably somewhere else in the city) she walked up to the one she had spoken to day.

“Hello again Mister!”Nathera said happily as she sat down in front of him, putting her parchment down as well with her pen ready to draw.

“Hello again Princess” The Watcher Knight said cleaning his large nail. “What are you doing down here?” He asked the tiny bug.

“Imma trying to draw your nail so I came down here to get a better look at it” she said not looking at him, but at the nail and back at her parchment, scribbling it on to one of the figures already drawn on. The Watcher Knight didn’t respond instead choosing to keep on cleaning his nail.

A bit later, calm footsteps echoed through the room and Nathera’s head darted up hoping it wasn’t Lurien coming back to catch her being disobedient again. She jumped up and ran in a small crevice that she had found on her adventure around the spire. She held her breath as she was right and Lurien mumbled to himself as he went up the elevator to his chambers.

How could she be so stupid.

she put her head in palms in slightanguished her own stupidity. She was here, not in Lurien’s room (where she was supposed to be) and he was on his way up to said room. She was doomed.

Suddenly a set of very light footsteps approached her and she looked up to see who it was. The moment when she saw her, Nathera jumped into her arms careful not to bend the parchment in her hands.

“Mother!” She exclaimed hugging the being tightly. The White Lady returned the hug and kissed the side of her shell, glad to have her daughter back into her arms.

“Hello, My little Fragment, I’m so glad to see you again”

“Me too Mother! It’s so cool here in the city and I met a lot of cool bugs!” Nathera rambled to her Mother as a terrified Lurien walked off the elevator, seeing Nathera in the White Lady’s arms he bowed immediately to the Her.

“My Lady, I’m so sorry to cause you trouble, I didn’t know the Princess came down here”

“It’s fine, Watcher, I’m just glad my little baby is safe. Thank you so much for watching her on such short notice”

“It was my honor to watch her, Your Majesty” he bowed again and Nathera took this opportunity to show her Mother what she had been drawing.

“Mother! Mother! Look!” Nathera pointed to her drawing and named the different figures in her art.

“See! This is Father” she pointed to a crude drawing of a bug with pointed horns and a long flowing cloak.

“This is you!” She moved along the drawing and pointed at a large figure with big eyes and lots of limbs coming out around it.

“Here is Lurien over to the side, in his spire, painting!” She moved her finger up to a small figure looking out of a building with a line that crudely resembled a bush.

“Oh? And where are you sweetheart?” The White Lady asked innocently, feigning ignorance. 

“I’m right here in the middle! With my large nail to strike down any enemy that tries to hurt anyone I care about!” She exclaimed and kept talking “Oh! I almost forgot”Nathera pointed to a almost completely black being with eight eyes behind the drawing version of herself “This is the Lord! They are very powerful! And they gave me the extra power to protect everyone!” being as excited she didn’t even notice her Mother’s frown form as the Lady though about how many have died trying to protect the ones they care about. The odd black being passed through her mind as she could only thing about the safety of her daughter. She was hesitant to have the Pale Wyrm teach her the art of the nail for The White Lady wanted her baby girl to always be with her, but learning how to fight was an integral part of living in such a kingdom. The Pale Lady faked a smile and cuddled her daughter.

“Ah! Mother you’re squishing me!” Nathera squirmed, trying to escape herMothers tight hold. As Nathera finally escaped, her Mother had motioned that she need to bow and say thank you.

“Thank you Mr. Lurien!” She bowed (like her mother had taught her). Lurien gave a bow in return and spoke

“My Pleasure, Princess”

Nathera grabbed her Mother’s limb as they walked out of the spire. And with a carefully placed carriage right out the spire door. No bug even saw the two royals get in and leave towards the Ancient Basin, back home.

 

_** Next Time ** _

_Nathera meets the supposed ‘Pure Vessel’ and is not impressed_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and as always feel free to give me (constructive) feedback or maybe even ideas for a chapter I don’t know. 
> 
> Also please let me know if you would like to see a drawing of Nathera that I did. I didn’t know if I explained what she looked like well enough, but I would be glad to post a picture! 
> 
> Thanks Again for Reading!


	6. The Empty One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The struggle of getting over shadowed by a literal hollow being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, now I can finally introduce the Pure Vessel in my own little way. This chapter is a little all over the place so be warned. This chapter also went through a couple of rewrites cause I didn’t know where I wanted to go. Anyways Thank you guys so much for the comments and kudos. Words can’t describe how I excited I get when I see a new comment (even if it’s a criticism) also as promised there is a drawing of Nathera in the link to my DeviantArt at the bottom of the chapter. 
> 
> Anyways enjoy this chapter <3

Nathera buried her head underneath her many pillows that sat on her bed. A large groan escaped her as she tried to block out the many (not to mention loud) voices in her head. She got used to them after they started when Father took her to the Abyss, but she barely heard them in the City of Tears. Now that she was back in the Palace the voices seemed to get revenge on her by being so loud she could barely hear her own thoughts.

“What’s wrong, darling?” A soft voice broke through all the whispers of her mind. She peeked out the covers and saw bright blue eyes looking at her with concern.

“Nothing Mother, just it gets so loud sometimes” she responded digging her head back under, into the safety of the pillows.

“What gets loud?” Her Mother questioned, trying to coax her daughter from under the covers.

“The Whispers” Nathera waved a hand like it didn’t matter. “I’m not really sure what they are, but they aren’t usually this loud”

“When did these...Whispers start?” The White Lady questioned again trying to understand more and slight dread filled her being.

“A little after the time Father took me to the Abyss” She responded just hoping sleep would satisfy the voices.

“What do these voices say?” The Lady was getting more worried by the second. If her daughter could communicate with the Void there was no doubt that the Pale Wyrm would exploit the new development.

The question made Nathera pause. She had never tried to make sense of the whispers only that they happened. She focused on the voices for the first time and took a deep breath and listened.

—

The Void was usually a quiet place, but when the Witness had attempted to tune in for the first time the Void was in an uproar trying to speak to them. A single commanding voice echoed throughout the Void silencing all the other voices.

“W̛̳͈̹͎̊̌̇͗̅͡ͅė̲͉͕̯̘͍̝̱̩̜̔͌̇̌̚͞ m̸̡͚̻̻̱͇͚̈́̉̀̉͘u̵͖̠͙̣̩͇̥̳͒͋̐̃̔͡s͖͈̟͚͍̟̜̲̻̓͐͆̊͟͝t̙̩̻̦͚͓̭̜̓̅̐͢͢͝ ḃ̸̧̢̫̟̹̮͈̻̆́̎̚͟͞ë̟͖͔̻̟͓̳̔̎͐̓͐̕͡ p̶̧̨̫̻̳̈́̒̎͆̅͞͞ã̴͈̼̗̣̎̔̔̌̏͡ͅt̢̧̯̻͇̖̤͓͊̎̌͗̈̔̕͜͜i̧̖͕̯͎̫̦͙̹͐̉̾̉̋͠ͅe̡̖̻͚͙͒́͋̏̈̃̋͛̎n̺̱̱̜̘̫̗̐̍̾̃̚͟t͓̠̗̯͓̦͔̮͔̔́͆̀̇̄̿͢,” said the voice “ṱ̺̜̫̮͎̮̿̽̈͒͊͘ḩ̴̧̛̲̯̦̹͖̼̐̎̔̓͘͡ͅe̵̡̨̘̻͕͖̤̰̞͉̓͋̌͗̈́̓̐̀̋͠ Ẅ̶̛̳̩̱̖̲̺̩́̓͂̾̇͘̕͢i̵̠͔̘͔̣̋͐̂̀̅̍͋͛͜͝͞ṫ̶̢̻̝̠̩̿̊͋̈́͢͞n̫͓͉̲̹̹̼̯̟̄̊̄͋̒e̷̢̗͍̠̯͈͆͛͌̏͘ͅš̵̨̹̱̰̜͇̺̝̂̑̾̃͗̅͘͘s̸̬̙͕̞͈̳̈́̏̓̉̊͘͠ s̸͖̟͓̰͎̠̝͍̒̉̊͑̓͜h̛͓̟͇͎̣̤̓̉̽̒̿͂͛̈͞a̷̹̭̜̬͎̙͗̑̀̆̐̂̇͌l̶̢̛͓͎̳̠͂̅̽͒̉̽͜ͅļ̵̨̱̳͔̹̽̓̄͌̇̌̈͝͡ c̢̬̹̼͍̣̮̍̏̓̓̃̏̽͐̚o̧̡̭̟̳̥̫̻͛͛́̾͛̍̎͘͢m̢̛͚͔͚̰̤̺̗̂̔͠͡͠e̛̹̣̮̰͈̭̅͐͊͛̏̚͢͝ t̢̪̬̞̫͚̪̑̿̐͒̌̊͜͟͡͝ơ̡̡̠̗̰̜͆̂͐͗͡ u̮̯̱̟͚͙̇̅͛̑̓̔̌̎͢͠͝s̷̢̗̳̲̦̜̳̆̓͗̽̅̉͠ i̵͍̯̖̞͚̳̊̆̔̂͛́̊͒͞n̠̤̭͙̆̿́̋̒̌̓͟͡ t̵̠͈̱͍̘͍̫͇͆̄̃͑͟͢h̴̨̨̥͎͙̹̾̍̈͒̀̈͘͝͞e̷̦̭͉̟̽̄̋̾̚̚ͅ f̧̛͍͕͉̓̿̀̇͜͞͡u͈̤͈̼͙̜̙̒͗͗́̚͡͝t̵͖̱̞̱̩̰́̈́̈͆̚û̮͔̩̖̙̃́̋͝ṙ̶̻̻̳͓̣̗̹̼͗̄͛̂͘͞e̷̼̰̯̠̣̹̍̄̓̆̿̀͐̂̆͝,̧͓͓̱̼̖̰̬̻̎͋̈͛̃̄̉̆͊͜͠ q̸̢͍̖̫͖̗̭̳̟͍͛͂̓͊̓͌̎́́û̶̻̘̥͇̫̼̳̦̜̑̋͆̄̚̕͞i̮̠̟̤̮͙͊̿̈́̽͒͡͡é̪̺̣̪̤͇̃̍̈͑͂͗̄t͕̲̜̖̳̦͉̗͔̘̑̑̿̃ y̡̨̯̪̤̻̣̔͑̽̕͠ơ̻͔̜̙̤͙̺͆͋̓̾̑̂ŭ̢̠̬͉͓̃͗͊̚r̷̡̰͕͚̭̗͐́̓͆͠s͙̥̮̗͚̪̼̞̐̍̿̈́͊͑͛͋͋ę̗̲͕̯͈̗͓̙̬̇̔̈́̊͌͗̕̚͡͞l̡̟̞̤̝̤̜̎̉͒̎͌̾̄͊͟͢͠v̨̨̹͈̤͎͎̜͆̀̅̄͐̈́̽̓̆e̫̭̗̤͕͈͉̭̎̓̎̏̅̉͞š̶̨̛̮͍̠͚̦̳͙̈̈́͑͘͢͡,̴͎̟̣̺͚̞̍̓͋̈́̈̇̌ i͚͖͎̖̇͒̆̉̽̃̕͘͢͞ẗ̷͓͚͍͖̘́̊̒̊͑͒͐̔ ẖ̷̙̙̬͙̗͖̪̀̀̎̇͡ͅa̡͉̻̳̗̾̃̆̄̚͘̚s̖̬̲̱̝͚̓̔̈̇̕͠͡͠͞ͅ b̴̢̤̠͕̺̗͍̫̠̉̅͋̎͑̃͐̔̚ͅe̵̡̫̬̭̳̠̻̙̪͂̍͆̃͝e̵̳͕͍̖̘̬͈͒̓̐̅̃̿̚͢͠͞ͅn̺̹̼͔̖͔̎̂̓͒̾̑̒ f̡̡̡̞̙̄͆͆̀͛̆͗͜ȏ̵̢͓̮̫̳̺̩̰͖̣̽͑̚r̶̞͔̖̥͖̤̝͒̂̓͟͟͢͝ȅ̴̫̤̮̰̗̝̦̐͗̋͒͒͊t̴̠̝̙̥̤̹̲̎̇̈͊͌͠ṏ̥̮͈͕̫̰̮̭͖́̋̈́̿̆͢͡ľ̵̺̭̱̜̭̤̦̋͂͆̆̊̆̕͟ḋ̵̞̞̪͇̟̭͎̩̩̆̋͊͂̕ͅ”

—

The moment Nathera tried to listen it got completely silent. Tears filled her eyes as she wondered what she did wrong. The White Lady was hugging her in an instant whispering sweet nothings of comfort. Nathera gripped onto her arms and sobbed, she thought that if the voices left, she would be happier but instead, it felt like there was a piece of her missing. A voice in her head pierced through the silence like a nail piercing through its target.

“W̴̝̰̰͕̝̌̈̔̈̾̅̊͑͗̕į̩̺̫̘̼̑̾̑̽̓̽̿͢t̶̳̖͙̜̗̐̍͋̍͑́̚͢͡ǹ̢̨̮͓̹̥̝͔̿͗̌̐̓̂͢͢ě̡̺͖̞̺͍̜̙̤̂͌̊s̸̛͇̞̭͚̰̖̙̽̋͂̐͡͠͞ş̨̝̰̹̝͎̯͗́̇͂̍”

The voice was nearly overwhelming and Nathera gripped her head in pain.

“ý̶̧̟̹̱̣̅̃̎̑̉̓͜͠ͅo̸͈̥̗͇̰͕͍̯̔̔͆̔̊͗͘͢u̸̪͕̮͎̗͍͔̅̃̊͊̒̔̚ m̴̧̛̛̭̩̗̭̏̎̇̕̚̕ụ̶̝̩̠͖̳̺̲͋͗̾̍̀̕̚s̛̛̤̞̫̗̬͚̩̒̎͘t̯̠͇̻̩̩̩̣͈̖̐̒̎͂̈́͝ c̵̛̩͔͖̗̳̳̼͉̐̃̓̓͒͘͡ơ̶̼̜͈̜͙͒̊̈́̽̾͑̕m̨̨̛̱̰̯̳̤͙͔̉̐̉̊̏̐͘ȩ̶͓̤̳͔̼̌͒̈͢͞͡͝ c̵̦͎̹̲͇̲̺̊̎̋͊͢͢͝ļ͚͉̪̮̜̳̃̎̆̋̇̒̇̈́͒̓͟o̧̧̪̪͇͖̼̻̳̒̑̃͒̾́̚̕̕͜s̴̳͕͔͎̤̰̞͓̀̽̒̂̓͟ȩ̷̧̛̤̥͔͓̗͐̓͗͛ͅr̡͚͔̪̞̺̖̺͐͊̽̀͂̽̌ t̴̛͇̮̞̹͍̬͌̂̃͂̔͑o̮̰̪̫̟͎̖͓͂̉͗̒͌͡ u̱̱̮̫̤͗̊̆̏̿͌͜͝͡ș̟̰̲̖͎̽͑͌͊͐́̐̈́͢͡ͅ,̸̠̳̹̹̰̉̀̾̄̅̏͐͋̆͝ t̴̗̜̻͎̗̳͚͛̅̀͌̀͢͢͠u̷̧͕̟̭̪̣̦̺͗͋͂̈̄̑̈̑ņ̱͍̼͋̊̒̽̃͛͢͝͡ę̵̛͕̙̙̎͋̂̄̊͂̇̇͜͝ ̵̴̨̡̧̛͕̝̦͈̤̣̤͍̳̬͉͈̗̲͕̙̻̘̳͖̟̤̜̲͔̖͖̖͚͌͊̊̑̿̌̃̾̑̈́̎̇̽̈͗̓̌̿͛̈͛̕͜͡͡͡͞í̤̲̮͎͇͍͔̝͍̾̇̃̈́̀͛͞ņ̰͎͖̱̗̲̭̗̳̏̔̎̂͂͐͘ t̵̡̥͇̪̮̖̋̈́̈́͌͐̎͑́͒͜͞ơ̛̘͍̺͓̝͔͗̿͗̎͑͞͞͠ y̛͎͇̟̮̜̓͛̿̓̉͛̋o̟͎͖͚̝̰̳̦̤͗̒̊̚̕ȗ͍̲͚͈̞̝͊͑̚͘͢͞ͅṛ̛̞͙̭̲͙̳̺̐̅͛̈́͆͢͝ b̢̙̰̺̪͙́͆̄̅̆̾̀̀͂͢͡i͚̻̱̫̿̃̈́̓̀͋̂̕͟͠r̝̠̯̟͔̪̒̍̈́̎̂̏̔͌ͅţ̦̘̥͍̹͕̪̳͈̈́͑̽̓̇̐̉̽͝ĥ̨̡̛̬͖̱̱͙̥̑͌͒͘͝r̷̩̺̖̩͖̍͗̿̓͑̍̈͆̚͢͡į̵̣̰̯̯͂̓̐̈́̂̊͞ͅͅg̡̨̫͓̭̮̘̟̏̌̄̐͋̈͢͞ͅh̵̙̻̝̩̎͗̔̿̚̚͜͞͝͠t̹̬̜̠̩̻̬̼͂̎̎̾̇̂̽̿͢͜͝ y̨̘̖̮͕͐͐̊̋̇̒͘ö̶̧͓͉̟͍̼̲͍͑̆̏͒̏̚̚͟ư̸̡̠̼̖͇͇̐͐̓̄̆̚ w̶͎͚͔̘͎̖̥͍̆̈́͒͌͛͝e̢͙͎̗̖͖̻͖̟͑̓̋̂̋͒̌̆ͅȓ̶̖͍̖̞̠͖̄̔͌̋̕é̴̢͔̣͉̫͙̲͈̦̜̃̈̈͘ ģ̗̫̱̜͓͙̇̾͗̃̍͢ř̷̨͖̮̣̜̥̏͊̽̓͡͡ḁ̛̫͓̠̱̌̾͗̿̂͝͠n͍̯̺͎͕̿͌̈́̒͌͋̔̀̉̌t̷̨͎͈͖̪͇̺͑̅̉͗̂̆͜͡è̸̲̩̩̫̞̳͎̇̊̚̚͞͞͞d̷̡͉̞̭͚̠̰͇̎͛̋͋͊̈̽̾͞ b̡̧̠̟͕̳̼͕̅̒͊͆͛̄̚͢y̧͓̘̎̍̇̉̾͛͜͜͞ b̧̮͚̞͚͛͗̇̒̋̒̋͢͜͞͝ͅl͕̣̱̠͙͗̒̇̚ò̡̧͓̜̬̝̣̊̎͊̽̎͑͡͡͡o̟̟͍̙͉͙̺͆̉̌̅́̍͛̍͐d̵̡̖̦͖͓̻̜̒̅͌̉̌̇̎͞ͅ"

“N-No I cant” Nathera whispered back. “It’s too d-dark and-d I don’t w-want to”

“Ơ̶̶̷̧̡͉̙̯̯̪̺͙̱̺̳̺͕͖̻͈̱̰̦͇͔̪̞͖̂͌̾̊̈́́̏̇̓̐̓̅̔͒̊̿̐̅͛̋͗̂̈́̈́͜͞͡ḥ̸̱̖̺͓͓͎͆̉̐̑͞͡?” the voice spoke mockingly “Ỷ̢̖̣̞̫͔̘̂̅̐͗̓͌̈̇͐͢͟o̵̧͉̻̝͈̓̊̆͘͡u̴̡̞̭̘̘̹̼͆̓̔͐̀̈̕͠ s̢̨̨̝̩̻̪͌̑̎̀̎͟͟͜ë̷̛͎͈̦̮͓̤̟̺̟̓͑̌̾̎͛e̖͉͎̳̖̳̻̋̎̑̾̐̎m̧̖̯̬̤̩̏̏̅̕͘̕͢ t̫͔͚̝͚̻̎̐͋̓͡͠h̷̨̧̨̥̼̰̬̗̟͛̅̍͂͞ỉ̸̢͉̝̮̲̭̲̄͛̅̈́͂̐͝͡͞n̨̨̼͇͕̎̉̓̾̒k͙̩͓̱̜̑͌̔̃̆͗͒̕͟͡͠ ỵ̵̢̧̡̰̫̲͚̽̅̉̿͐̒̋͠ǫ̡̜̭̺̳̭́̇̏͐͡û̡̲͚̖̩̹̮̗̍̃̔̈́̅͟͞ h̶͎̼͓̬̝̒͊̃͋̏͠a͖̝̖͍͍̘̦̝̓͌̔̋̒̅̀͘͟͢͝ṿ̴̬̤̭̟̝͔̩̂̃̿̉̽͘͜ę̛̗̦̰̰̹̪̞̩̞́̊̋̂͒̓̿̚͡ a̢͕̞͎̘͔̍̔́̄́͝ͅ ć̶̨̯̝̞̮̼̰͈̰͙̏̆̑̾͌h̷͍̭̝̦̳̟͍̺̩̑̑̉̉͌̌͡ö̢̼̜̠͉̣̜̹̊̏̐̏̃́̔̈͜͞i̭̞̻͖̲̺͎̾̇͑̅͒̾͘͢ç̵̥̲̣̜̯̜̐̏̍̅̌̕͠͞ͅe̷̟͙͈̰͗̐̑̑͆̀͊̕͢ į͙̭̪͔̥̂̌̓̈́̚͟͞n͖̫̗̝͈͐̑̓̋͢͡͞ t̸̢̛̛̻̻̹̠̻̳̫͚͒̌̂͛͑̿̚͟͞h̷̢̞̫̹͎͚͔͉̓̈́̈̄͘̚e̷͔̜̳̩̯̤͕͇̠̾̊͗̾̓̎͟͠͡ m̴̛̦̳̪̰̗̅̉̉̎̓̂a̘̭̣̘̖̔͗͊͌̉̉t̷͍͖̙̦͔͎̆͑̑̃͑̌̄͘͠t̵̨̰̘̖͙̬̒̅͐͗̈́̿̇̚̕͝ẻ̵͉̯̙͍̠̓́͐͂͌͜r̵̨̛̪̜̗̳̙͙̝͂͋͒̉̒͡”

Suddenly a heat spread throughout her body, like her own blood started to boil. She jumped out of her Mothers arms and yelled out.

“Mother! Please make it stop! It hurts!” she pleaded. The White Lady was terrified as she had no idea what to do for her daughter. Without warning Nathera took the old pen that Lurien had gave her and stabbed it right in the middle of a Kings Brand that laid on the inside of her wrist , trying to dull out the pain and to get rid of the burning sensation. The moment this had happened The Root pulled the pen away and threw it as far as she could. Black ichor dripped out of the Witness’s wrist and onto the pristine white floor. The White Lady pulled her daughter tightly as the ominous voice spoke once more into the Princess’s mind.

“Let the pain be a reminder ÿõu can nõt leave us. Time i̓͐҉̗s â luxury and we can wåit, but do nõt expect the wait for you to be̸̪̹ͬ....comfortable.̜͐ͭ..”

The burning pain faded abruptly and she panted in her mother’s arms.

“Darling?” The Lady said softly holding her child like she used to do when she was just an infant.

“Mother” Nathera responded curling up in her arms and relaxing into the Pale Light her mother gave off. The dull ache of her wrist throbbed and she looked at the blackness dripping off her hand.

“I d-don’t want to g-go” Nathera continued as grey tears fell. “I w-want to s-stay with you...w-with F-Father”

“Oh darling, you never have to leave us” The White Lady said not understanding what she was talking about but knowing this was a integral moment for what could and would happen in the future. Nathera was about to respond, but a voice from the door echoed throughout the now completely silence room.

 

“Beloved?”

 

The White Lady paled even more and hurriedly talked to her spawn before the Pale King came in.

“Do not” she commanded“Do not tell your Father of the voices” Nathera nodded even though she didn’t understand why she couldn’t tell her Father. Father would know what to do so why could she not tell him? She didn’t have time to ask as her Mother spoke again.

“Yes, My Wyrm?”

“I heard Nathera, is she okay?” The Pale King opened the door and looking straight to his spawn who was cradled in her mother’s arms.

“What happened?” He said shortly.

“Nothing, Darling” The White Lady said in confidence. “Just Nathera fell and started to bleed, I just came in here to help”

Satisfied with his Roots response he looked at Nathera who was visibility nervous. It was hard enough lying to the Kings most trusted adviser , Lurien, and now she had to lie straight to her Fathers face.

“Y-Yep” she started to ramble “N-Nothing happened at all. W-Why would anything happen in the s-safety of the P-Palace?”

The White Lady sighed and let Nathera down who avoided her Fathers suspicious gaze. Her Fathers eyes jumped to the black blood on the ground to the pen that was thrown across the room and back at his spawn. She was definitely lying, he would have to...fix that soon.

“Anyways, there are more pressing matters at hand” The King said not mentioning her obvious lie. “I must go down back into the Abyss and find the Pure Vessel and only then shall Nathera be made the Witness of its glory”

“W-What?” Both The White Lady and Nathera said at the same time. The White Lady in suspicion and Nathera in curiosity mixed with a bit of nervousness.

“Follow” The King spoke directing Nathera, ignoring the growing questions from the Queen. Nathera gave a huff and beguilingly followed her Father out of the room, turning back to look at her Mother, who looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment. She turned back around and followed her Father wordlessly to wherever they were going.

“This Vessel shall be perfect the savior of Hallownest” said the King leading his spawn back to the Abyss.

“Why do we need someone to save the Kingdom, Father?” Said spawn questioned, her Father was in a talkative mood and she wanted to ask as many questions as she could.

“The Old Light threatens our Kingdom little one, Only a completely hollow vessel can trap her and save all the inhabitants of Hallownest” he started as they came upon the Abyss door “The Vessel will be perfect, spawn, you shall revere it with all your being”

“Of course, Father” Nathera automatically responded used to him going off on theses tangent. As they walked onto the ledge the King went to the very edge and looked down seeing if any Vessels were close to the top. None. He decided to take this time and lecture his own spawn on the Vessels nature. Nathera stood behind her Father and tried listened to him, but the increasing volume of whispering almost drowned out his voice, if his voice didn’t echo Nathera thought she wouldn’t been able to heard him.

 

“No mind to think“

Whispers grew in her mind.

 

“No will to break“

A whistle like sound emanated as something fell

 

“No voice to cry suffering.”

Resounding cracks echoed throughout the hollow chamber.

 

“Born of God and Void“

The drip of Void seeping back into the dark.

 

“You shall seal the blinding light that plagues their dreams“

More whistles, whispering and cracks almost overwhelmed her mind as her Fathers voice echoed all around her.

 

Suddenly a tiny body jumped onto the last platform, one away from they were standing. It had a jagged edge on the inside of the horns

 

“You are the Vessel.”

 

As soon as the last word was spoken the creature made a large jump off the platform. When Nathera looked at it she could tell the jump was too short and the creature wouldn’t make it to where they were standing. She was frozen where she stood as everything seemed to slow down.

 

“You are the Hollow Knight."

 

A sound resonated through the darkness. Not a crack like the broken vessels falling, but a clang. Like something had gripped on something metal for dear life. She found the Vessel had made this sound, pushing itself up onto the ledge where both Nathera and her Father stood. Did the Vessel want to live? Why did it hang on? Nathera’s internal questions were never answered as the King gripped onto the Vessels shell turning it upward making the thing look at him with its cold blank stare.

“Perfect”

He quickly turned around commanding the Vessel and walking out of the Abyss. Something got her attention and she saw another vessel hanging on the edge of the platform, unable to pull itself up. The newly named Hollow Knight also looked at the tiny vessel struggling to get up. The King looked at his spawn and the Vessel, watching the imperfect vessel, staring at the Pure Vessel he uttered a command to follow him. The Pure Vessel turned back around and followed the Kings command walking out of the Abyss with him. Nathera still stuck in her frozen state didn’t realize she was still on the Abyss side of the door and not the other side.

“H-Hey w-wai-“ Nathera was cut off when the door closed locking her in the Abyss. The silence was deafening even with the voices in her head that grew louder couldn’t compare to the sound of the door closing.

 

“...Father?”

 

She whispered to the door and with no answer she fell down on the metal ledge the sound echoing throughout the entire abyss. Wet tears fell down her shell and onto the ground below as she called out for her Father or Mother she didn’t care at this point. She had almost never be alone in her life and the new feeling was overwhelming. She sobbed for her parents or just to be out of the scary dark. Her mother lied to her, she said that they would never abandon her. She didn’t even noticed that the tiny vessel that was on the edge had fallen backs into the depths where it had spawned from. It was so dark in the Abyss and she could only see the light that emanated from the closed door. The whispers grew in her mind and though being so close to the Void she still couldn’t make out exactly what they were saying so she sat in the dark, next to the door occasionally chirping in hopes someone would come for her. She didn’t dare try to leave the ledge for she was still terrified of what lied at the bottom. With all this time to herself she focused on the only thing she could, the voices in her head. She was able to pick out some words like ‘blood’ and ‘reunion’ but nothing that made sense to her. She pricked at the inside of her wrist, peeling off a scab that was forming on the Kings Brand where she stabbed herself earlier, hoping to distract herself from the current situation. Soon the voices quieted making the Abyss dark and silence. Quiet sobs periodically broke the silence as the young bug whined for their Mother. Suddenly a single thought enveloped her mind. It wasn’t her fault she was stuck down here, it was the ‘Pure Vessels’ she spat the name and mocked it in her head as she thought as adrenaline filled her being and needing to do something with it she stood up unexpectedly and kicked the door as hard as she could.

“Stupid” she chastised to herself as she immediately recoiled from the pain spreading up her leg. A shard of the door seemed to splinter off and land with a quiet thud to the ground. She saw this and grabbed the sharp piece and went to the edge of the ledge. Nathera still in a emotional state held the object over her wrist stating loudly to the Void.

“I vow” she sneered, words coming out of her mouth without thought “I swear on my own blood , that I shall conquer the supposed ‘Pure Vessel’ and fight for my own righteousness.” Nathera spouted quick slicing her wrist, right below the Kings Brand (she was careful not to damage it more) with the Fragment, black blood oozed off her body and dripped in the darkness that was the Abyss. She tightly gripped the shard in her other hand, almost shattering the glorified splinter. She snapped out of her rage as a light flooded the chamber and embraced her with the Pale Light that she missed so dearly. She looked back in shock as a blurry figure came into view. As her vision focused she realized that it was her Mother and she ran to her, dropping the shard and running into her Mothers limbs. The While Lady scooped up the young heir in her arms who immediately basked her mother’s light Nathera clutched onto the Higher Being.

 

The Father of the Heir looked at his spawn in mild inconvenience as he had to come all they way down here just open the door one last time. A King gave a sigh as the White Lady coddled the Heir. He noticed more black blood dripping off her and followed the blood to a shard that laid abandoned on the ledge. He picked it up and inspected it, pressing lightly on the top to test its sharpness. To his surprise it pricked his finger easily, the Fragment looked dull but was easily as sharp as a nail. He slid the Fragment underneath his cloak as the pair of females almost ignored him walking back to the Palace, he let out another large sigh and for the last time with a wave of claw his Brand sealed the door closed. It would never be opened again now that the Pure Vessel was retrieved and the Heir of the Kingdom had been ‘rescued’ from it. The Pure Vessel was currently doing the Path of Pain he had designed and the White Lady had basically dragged him by his horn all the way back down, just to get his worthless heir out of the Abyss. He trailed the royal ladies as they entered the Palace again. The White Lady hadn’t let the Heir down yet as she whispered sweet nothings to her tired spawn. He didn’t want to interrupt the two, but it was necessary.

“My Lady?” He said coming to a stop at his Throne. The White Lady looked back, tightening her grip the heir that was nodding off in her arms.

“Yes, My Wyrm?” She responded with a hint of suspicion.

“You know I’ll be...busy for awhile.” The King said hoping not to completely lose the trust of her.

“Training the Vessel, Yes?” She said quietly hoping not to wake the now sleeping heir in her arms. “What about it?”

“Well” The Pale King continued “Since the great accomplishment of finding the Pure Vessel to save our Kingdom and everything is now falling into place, I think Nathera should finally learn the art of the Nail, she is getting older now and must have the skills to protect the Kingdom If all shall fail”

The White Lady was taken a back from this. All her Wyrm wanted to do was..train her? There must be some type of catch to the training. So she questioned him.

“You will train the Heir?”

“No, I must be training the Vessel, though it is already proficient it will need extra practice and skills” the King responded gracefully coming to a large white dining table, while no member of the royal family did not have the need to eat, sometimes they still had tea at the table.

“Then who will train her?” His Root asked skeptical of who would be in the trusted enough to train the Heir.

“We shall talk about it more later, I must tend to the Vessel” The King deflected, disappeared off into the depths of the Palace, leaving the Higher Being alone with her spawn. She gave a huff and moved to the Heirs room laying her down on her bed. She tucked Nathera under the covers and gave a kiss to the top of her forehead.

“Dream of nothing, Little one, for we both do not know what the future holds” The White Lady whispered blowing out a Lumafly lantern that laid on her bedside. She whisked away from the bedroom and made plans to go the garden. Nathera would be safe with her Father... right?

 

—

 

When Nathera had woken up she was comfortably in her bed. A white cloth was wrapped around her hand and drips of black blood could faintly be seen through the bandages. The voices had quieted in her head as got up from her bed that was quite large, especially for a small bug like her. She gave out a huff and changed her cloak that she had fallen asleep in. The cloaks in her wardrobe were very similar expect for a grey cloak that was never used but she had anyways. There was also a much more fancy cloak, for when she had to meet with other bugs with her Father. Like the two dreamers, Herrah the Beast and Monomo the Teacher. This cloak was still white, but it had embellishments all along the edge and a large Hallownest Seal on the collar. She hated that cloak as the seal always seemed to get right in her face and it a very stuffy cloak. She found one of her normal cloaks that was plain white with black lines curved upward on both sides. A small Hallownest Seal was the brooch, but overall a very comfortable cloak. She quickly put it on and rushed out into the hallways. Hoping to find her Mother or someone to play with. While going down the hallway to the Throne room, she noticed a retainer off to the side standing almost perfectly still like he was waiting for a command. As she approached the retainer, he visibly got nervous and did a full bow to her.

“G-Good M-Morning, My P-Princess” The retainer stuttered. Nathera used to this kind of behavior from the inhabitants of the Palace gave a slight head bow and mumbled a ‘Good Morning’ back to the bug. The retainers never wanted to play with her and rarely had interesting conversations. She continued to her Fathers throne room on a mission. She knocked on the throne room door, as her Father had taught her, but with no answer, she creaked open the door. Instead of seeing her Father on his signature throne she saw the ’Pure Vessel’ standing like a statue next to the empty chair. The voice of the Vessel was automatically annoying. Instead of even a coherent sentence the Vessel always seemed to only repeat one word or phrase. She frowned at the Vessel when it made eye contact with her. Even with black holes that were eyes, she seemed to know exactly where the Vessel was looking.

“What are you looking at?” Nathera rudely said, she couldn’t been rude around her parents, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be rude to others who technically couldn’t snitch on her. The Vessels voice immediately pushed into her brain.

“ş̴̛̪͔̭̻̪̗̯̯͋̓͐̓̐̓̔͘͟i̧̡͎͎͈͐͊̆̓̅̅s̡̡͉̬̬͎̣̹͆̉̀͂̆͛̕ẗ̴̨̞̟̼͕͙̹͍̤́͐̍̑͆̄̓̅̎ė̸͖͙͓̱̟͙̳̲̻͊̐͗̕͢͡ȑ̶̪̦̺̗̻̭̳̅̾̀͛̓̿̈̀̈s̜͉̦̘͙͔̘̜͕̍͌̆̊͡ī̮̖͎̹͙̙̬̦̪̑͗̋̀̈͛͘͠s͖͈͓͖̻̙̯̙̍̅̈̓̌̚t̨̼̘̬̗͂͛̔͊̊̅͗͟͞͝ę̴͈̦͇̗̦͔͑̓̌̾̈͢͢r̪͈͔͙̩͆͌̄͂͟͜͡ṣ̶̲̩̫̻̒͐̽̿͛͘ͅi̷̡̫͍͓̼͓̼̯̍̊̊̒̓͒̑̈͡͝ṡ̷̢͔̼̮̥̭̥͓͎̬͔̼͚̼͓̤̺̙̻̘̯̭̣̟̖̜̘̼̬̖̙̎̈̆͌̅̐̓̅̃̅̽̒̈́̐̓̐̐̀͐͊̿̾͛̾͆̈́̈͘͜͜͢͢͜͢͡ť̷̟̲̜̹̲̎̄̿̇̎̎̕e̸̦̻͉̼͔̱͗͒̂̓̏͆͘͟͞͡r̢̢̩̬̹̥̱͕͆̒̑̄̓̄͘͟s̴̢͇̖̱̙̗̘͙̙̈͋̾͗͘̕̚͡͡i̞̹̣̗̩͇̻̗͆̒̌̌̂͛̆͋s̢̘͍̖̜̖̜̯̉̃͒̌͑͌̔͢t̶̮̟̰̗̫̹̥̳͙͗̔̑̀͞ȅ̴̪̯̙̉͐̽̂͜͢r̷̛̯̖͇̠̜͖͂̏̋͗͒̽”

“Yes, Yes, don’t you have anything useful to say?” Nathera responded hating the repetitiveness of their voice.

“f̪̯͖͉̱̦̼̊̐̔͆̓͒a̵̡̨̤͎̳͔̗̟̩̝͑̂̈́̔͑̽̋t̵̢̛̞͇͚͈̮̙̗͊̔̿̊͛̃̊̚͢h̢̰͚̯̀͛̄͗͐̿̃͗͜͜͢͠ȩ̬̠̭̤̗̫̖̝͉͌̅̋̽̅͗̉̆̋ŗ̵̦͙͍̰̀̏̔̈́̄͡͠͡ỡ̵̝̯͓̖͉̱́̍̏͆̌͟b̴̜̬̲̭͖̮̩͖̜̽̿̾̔̔͊̏̑e̦͕̗̫͔̙͌͋̉̏͘͠͞y̡̮͓̦̩̜̜̲̖͆̆̇̉̔̑̆͞s̵̝̝̪̹͈̱̀͐̈̾͑̔̓ĩ̷̡̥̭̞̳̭̥̽̓̆̇͊̃̄͝s̴̫͚̥͈͍͚̃̉̒͗͐̚͠͞t̷͔͖̪̲̰̗͚̱̍̅̌͡͠e̸̛̼͓̪̬͔̟̿̋̊̿̐̚͝r̨̛̲͕̘͙̭͖̻͙̽͋͒͒̍͒̿̉͞w̧̼̦̺̲͕̼̆̾͗̿̉ị̢̨̞̣̠̥̖͛͗̎͡ţ͎͍͇̬͚̗̮̘̯͊͋̍͋̾n͚͉͎͍̆̈̆̐͋͐́͡ͅę̣̳̦͇̙͉̲̞͗͑͛̆̅͛̒͡ş̴̧͎̖̦͋͒͂̍̔̾s̵̖̗̳͉̟̆̽̉̋͊̚͢“

“Aren’t you supposed to be completely hollow of voice or something?” Nathera questioned unsure if she should tell Father. Maybe if she told him, he would get rid of the creature and all would silence in the Palace

.

“h̵̤͉̺̱͙͇͑̌̃̀́͊̅̄͠͠ö̫̣̺̖̗́͂̏̓͊̾̎̕͠ļ̵͇̫̫͉̹̣̗͊̓̒̄̂̾͑͟͞l̨̥̜̥̠͖̮̙͚͗͐̍̃͝͞o̸̬̱͇̯̮̳͊̐͂͗͠ŵ̵͙̖̰͖̇̾́̑͒͋̆͡ͅh̶̡̻̝̮̤̠̗̮̺̼͆̅͗͊͑̋̇̓ö̸̩̣̬͉͍͕̳̬̿̄͌̃͐̏͆͝ͅͅl̯̗̭̳̻͚͓̾͐̿͆͊̊l̶̢̙̫͙̤͎̹̪̱͍͊̽̊̂̿̽͛̊̔̕ơ̵̡̺̻̠͖͎̹̿̂͛̑̓̂̏͟͠͠w̡̢̺̰̼̓̎̒͆̐͊̑̚̕ȟ͈͎̼̲̦͕̺̫͉̑͑́͌͐̉̆͜͠ơ̴̧͈͔͖̠͔̖̣͈̄͆̈́͆̋̊̏͢ḻ̶͙̺̲͉͙̼̝̰̤͊̓̍͐͂̃̍ḽ̴̙̥̘̗̈́̋͑̔̒͟ǫ̺̦͎͈̲̻͊͂͆̃͐̌̕͜ͅw̧̩̫̺͉͊͂̔̔̌͐̐o̸͙̩̗̬̩͈̣̎̋̅̾̌b̢̧̮̬̞̰͍͔̭̔̓̌͒̓͝e̷̩̞͓̬͈͂̇̑͆̓̓̍y̛̤̝̫͓̱͉͙͚͍̓̍̏̈̃͢ợ̢͎̻͚͈͎̙͍͓̀͑̓̒̑̾b̸̨̧̳̪͉͈̭̼̭̒̽̃̅͢͝ẹ̡̙͙̲͕̩̪̭̓̊́̐͗̑̕͞y̵̢̨̠̟̒̆̽̿̾̔̋̈͟͝n̰̠̗̟̰̯̅̑͊̒̂͂o̩̹̤̭͚͋̉̈́͌͢͞t̪̮͈̭̲̭̩̠̓̌̌̾̃ͅȩ̵͇̻͉̼̣̋͛̌͑̕͜l̡̛̮̭͓̯͉̻̦̱͂̔͗̑́͗̽͟ļ̧̨̜͉̰̲̳̮̃͒̌̚͢͡f̡̻͓͇͉̀̀͡͠ą̮̝̜̤̫̭͙͒̆̋̄̉̓͜͡͝ţ̧̛̛̗͓̜͕̰̆͊͐͌̕̕͠͝h̺̬̲̦͓̳̗͋̓̊̎͘e̵̟̖͔̬̻̦͒̽̽̇̽͝ŗ̴̱͓̙̠̔̆̆͂̕͠n̷͉͍̩̳͉̩̜̬̞̆͒̾́͠͝o̴͕̗̘͙͙͚͆̑̋̔̏̚͘ͅt̡̞̖̥̟̘̓͋̒̍͐̅͢͜͝͞e̴̛͎͇͔̫͉͖͒̋͘͠l̸̨̟̗̠̯͚̘̰̺̥͋̑̾̌̇͊͘l̶̮̥͇̱̊̀̈́̉̑͐͋͐͟f̵̢͔̪̖̟͙̝̝͂͑͛̂̓͘ͅã̷̬̥̭̙̜̐͒̔̉̉̀͘͡͞t̮̜̫͎̞͂͐̉͊̐͡͞͡ͅh̬͔̠̜͉͐͗̔̏͊͋̾͞e̡̩̬͕̲͎̬̜̤͉̽̎̐̇̀̒̐͑͝r” The Vessel repeated until Nathera answered.

“By the Gods!” She said, repeating a phrase she had heard in The City when someone was annoyed. “Fine! I wouldn’t tell Father, just be quiet!” Even with no body movements the supposed Pure Vessel was extremely expressive. Even though Nathera had said she wouldn’t tell her Father about the Vessel, Nathera still contemplated telling him. While she weighed the pros and cons of telling her Father. She came up with a great idea. Lying to the Vessel would be very easy and she was very bored so why not have a little fun?

“I wouldn’t tell Father as long as you play with me!” She pointed at the Vessel brushing her cloak aside. Father had said that pointing was rude, it didn’t matter because Father was not even around. Who knows where he was, probably still in the Palace. Nathera thought absentmindedly. Her Father rarely left the Palace, and was usually in his Workshop. She shuddered at the thought of his Workshop. The Workshop was the scariest thing in the Palace right next to the Path of Pain. She hadn’t done the Path herself, but her room was close enough to the Path that sometimes she could hear a stray sawblade or the spikes moving. She got nightmares just of the thought of the sawblades. The Vessels voice ripped her out of her own thoughts.

 

“p̙̗͙̹̳̄̿̊̃͂̈͢l̷͓̻͕̺̉̑͆́̎̃̚͢a̵̡̙̜̬̼͉̙͌̌̆͜͢͡͞ͅy̵̟̮͉̼͖̺̱̥͑͐̌͐́̚͜͡ͅ?̺̫̞̝̖͓̭̙͚͒̑̑̓̑̉̕͜͡w̤͕͚͔͚̐̈́̉̇͆͘͘͝ḥ̻̞͓̎̈́͑͐̌̓͢ͅà̷̡̰͍̯̩̤̰̋̑͌͂͝͠͡ţ̮̞̭̩̠͓̰̟͛̄̎͗̉ͅs̤̞̖͖͙͋̈́̑̂͟p̷̢̘͓̞̩̈̐̅̓͆͒̚͢l̪̟͎̥̱̻̦̰̑̉͂͗̇a͉̬͚̫̩͈̫̯̘͐̋̋͑̌͝ý͓̼̝͎̩͚̟̀̂̈́̌̕͟ļ̵̘͙̘̰̠̩̹̣̻̂̌̍͒̎è̷͍̺̭͎̰͍̃͒̍̈͘͢͠ṯ̸̝̱͖͍͔̏̌̏̅̈́̕͟͜s̨̛̗̦͇̫̬̍͛͌͝͝p̙̦̣̙͇̋̇̓̅͘l̵̢̩̣͖̟̲̅̒̍̉̏͜͞ą̴̧͙̲̬̤̼̟͂̑̅̔̅͟͝ÿ̲̼̹̀͑̋́̕͢͟͝͝l̵̝̼̹̫͙͚̳̜̩̐͒͊́̈́́͛͟͡ḙ̻̙͇̮͍͐̎͋̋̚͡͡ṫ̸̛̖̤̻̠̯͐̍́̈̂s̸͍̖͕͓͕͗̀̏́̇͒̓̑͘p̛̩̺̳̣͚̲͙͚͚̓̉̋͂͢ĺ͖͙͙͓̫̪̌̓̌̑͞ͅa̴͎͚̠̠̙̞̱̾̿̈́͗͒͘y̷̛̳͕̤̦͆̌̅͘͢͜͠͝͡” the Vessel asked knowing this was the only way to keep the Witness from snitching to their Father.

“I want to play tag” she snorted shortly (very unladylike). The Vessel looked dumbfounded as they didn’t even know what tagging had to do with playing. At the Vessels look Nathera explained the rules. “So you can be ‘it’. Your job is to chase me until you touch me. When you do I become ‘it’ and I chase you.” She finished “Understand?” The Heir looked at the Vessel who repeated the word ‘chase’ and ‘yes’. The moment Nathera got fed up with its constant rambling, she took off deeper into the Palace hoping to get a head start on the Vessel. She didn’t have many other friends to play tag, but her Mother said she was very good at tag and Nathera always won. The Vessel was close on her heals as Nathera darted around retainers and vases. Hoping not to crash into one and have to hear her one of her Mothers lectures. Both fast and small the two royal dashed around the Palace, but when a unexpected retainer walked out of room. Nathera crashed into them losing her momentum and crashing into a wall with a poor retainer in hand. With a slight touch the Vessel took off into the other direction, getting a head start on the dazed Heir. After shaking off the dizziness. She didn’t even look back at the terrified retainer(who looked like they had a heart attack) as she ran as fast as she could to the retreating Vessel, trying to make up for lost time. Back on the chase, Nathera had a mission to catch the Vessel and make it...well ‘it’. Darting around hallways and furniture, not noticing the sound of sawblades reaching her. She came to a skittering stop as she saw the Vessel on a platform that was suspended by wires and sawblades moved up and down at a terrifying fast pace, making it so if she wanted to get to the Vessel she would have to jump across the sawblade and land safely on the small platform(that was already majorly taken up my the Vessel). A growl escaped the Heir as she caught her breath.

“H-Hey!” She raged “T-That’s c-cheating!” The Vessel paid her no mind though and watched the sawblade move up and down effectively cutting off the Heir from getting to the Vessel. Another growl escaped Nathera as she refused to admit defeat to the Pure Vessel. Lining up the jump, she took a step back waiting till the sawblade reached its lowest point until starting at a full sprint at the Vessel. Making it to the edge of the ledge, Nathera took a large leap aiming towards the platform that the Vessel stood on. She refused to look down at the green thorns that were packed on the floor. With the sawblade moving up at an impossibility fast pace, she managed to grip on to the very edge of the platform. Pulling herself up and looking straight into the dead eyes of the Vessel, she gave a touch with her index finger in the middle of the Vessel shell.

“You’re it!” She screeched with victory. The sound of the surrounding sawblades getting drowned out by her own achievement. The Pure Vessel looked almost shocked at the new development, until they themselves poked a finger out of there cloak and touched the Heir.

"̸̛̗̫͙͙̗̱̱͑̑̄̉͊̉͘͜͝͠Y̶̧͔̜̙͆̇̌̊͂̀̊͌̚͜ô̶̫̫̟̟̖͑̎͑͞͞ȗ̷̧͙͚͍̹̃̄͛̕̕͞'̧̥͙̠̣͇̣̱̿̉́̔̐̈́̊̃̕͢͟ŕ̢̛̻͕̭̟̈́̉̍̿̈́͛̚ȩ̸͇̖̙̤̻̰͇̂̓͂̔̐̀͜ͅ i̵̧̪̼̥̻̠̇̊̑̇̑͑̕͠ṫ̶̼̜̬̺̝̘͑̈́͗̚!͚̘̲̤̩̪͔̜̭̩̅̓͂̅̌̚͘͡͠"̶̗̝̟͔̬͉̊̒̽͛̃͌̌͆͒

 

Nathera turned back around with a snarl, intending to push it off the tiny platform, but noticing the Vessel immediately turning back to its unemotional self when it saw a Pale Figure coming into where they were now stuck.

“My Word!” A voice cried “What happened? First I hear of a retainer almost passing out from fright on the other side of the Palace and now this!” Nathera looked back and saw her Mother on the ledge looking shocked at the way both of the tiny bugs were on an even smaller platform, surrounded by spinning blades of death.

“Hi Mother!” Nathera greeted waving a hand to her enthusiastically, innocently asking “Why does Father own so many sawblades?”

—

Nathera sat uncomfortably at the large dinner table. Her Mother has gone to her garden (after a stern talking to) and now the Heir was having tea with her Father who sat on the other side of the table putting some sugar gracefully into his tea. Nathera was a bit more ungraceful dumping almost the whole thing of sugar into her cup. She hated the bitter taste and could only bare it with ridiculous about of sugar. Her Father had called her into her for some reason, but she knew that questioning her Father would get her nowhere. The ‘Pure Vessel’ stood off to the side wordlessly, but Nathera could her the voices of Void slowly emanating from it. Sometimes when she thought her father wasn’t looking (or just staring off into space) she would sneak a quick hate filled glare to the Vessel who never responded to the looks. During the uncomfortable silence she was able to hear more clearly the voices that now spoke quietly in her head, but these seemed to be exclusively the Vessel thoughts. It was annoying to constantly hear the one word that seemed to only occupy the Vessels head. A clinking sound of the Nathera cup scraping the tea cup in anger as she blurted out without thinking about what her words implied.

“Will you stop“ she growled aiming at the Vessel “Shut up, you are driving me crazy” her mean childish tone coming out. The voices that whispered had gone completely silent with shock. Her Father on the only hand who had watched the whole ordeal glared at his heir.

“What” his cold rage filling the space in the room. He gripped the handle of his cup, almost shattering it. “What did you say to me, spawn“ he spat.

Nathera immediately cowered, Boeing her head quickly she stuttered an apology (even thought it wasn’t directed at him)

“S-Sor-ry F-Father” she apologized “I w-was n-not t-talking to y-you, b-but I-I am s-sorry” she found herself on the floor, with spilled tea dripping onto the ground. Her head was now touching the floor and tears welled in her eyes. His presence was overwhelming and the King looked at the Vessel and back at his ungrateful spawn. He stood up and walked over to Nathera (who now was trying to make herself as small as possible, curling in on herself)

“You worthless spawn” he insulted harshly. He pulled unmercifully on the spawns tallest horn, jerking up her head so she had to look at him. Horror was the only expression Nathera could give to her fathers mean stare. More tears fell due to the uncertainty of what would come and she couldn’t even speak to try and resolve the conflict.

“You abomination” he spat “You dare try and speak out against me? I am the King, The Light, I defeated the Old Light in the Kingdoms name, I am the one who gave you life and you dare defy me?” He dragged her by the horn to some unknown place. Nathera sobbed and tried to pull away from her Father, but it was a fruitless attempt.

“Father!” She yelled pulling against his hold. “I wasn’t talking to you! I was talking to the Vessel! Please stop” she sobbed hoping to explain her point.

“Liar” he denied “the Vessel can not speak, it has no voice to cry out.” She continued to struggle against her Father grip as he spoke “It can not even think, it is a tool, clay molded by the Masters hand”

“B-But Father” she tried again “I heard it! It was speaking!” This made the King stop and look at the sobbing child(almost teen).

“What did the Vessel even say?” He asked giving a rough tug on her horn jerking her to the ground. At this point Nathera remembered that she wasn’t supposed to tell Father about the voices. She continued to struggle in his unbreakable grip as she answered him.

“F-Father!” She answered, but It was too late as the cat was out of the bag. “E-Ever since you took me to the A-Abyss I could h-hear the v-voices” Nathera pleaded hoping to stop her Father.

“You despise the Pure Vessel correct?” He asked not believing her story.

“N-No” she answered, she knew lying would get her in more trouble but she was already in tears.

“Lies, Lies, and more Lies” he spat at her opening the door to his Workshop. “I will fix you, my ungrateful heir, mark my words” he pulled her up onto an empty table and held her down as she struggled to get up. He grabbed a scapula nearby and positioned it right over her left eye.

“Now relax” he mocked “you wouldn’t want me to miss, would you?”

 

** _Next Time_ **

_Nathera deals with a new development_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a cliffhanger. As always feel free to rate and review. I hate the void text, but luckily there wont be much of it for the next chapters. I love hearing feedback (even if it’s criticism). I have a bit of an ark coming up that will take a couple chapters to get through(depending on my pace and stuff). I’m sorry it’s takes so long to get these out. I can only work on chapters when I’m inspired to do so. Thanks again for reading and here is the link to my drawing 
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/nyanyadragon20xx/art/Nathera-the-Fragment--789600786
> 
> Thanks!


	7. The Fragment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nathera deals with some new stuff. Someone pays the price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn’t guess Nathera has some.. personality issues... but anyways! Thanks for the comments and Likes! Also there is a little something special at the end of this chapter :)  
> Sorry it takes so long for me to get these out....  
> This one is a rollercoaster Have Fun!!

The first thing that Nathera recognized was the cold. She couldn't see or hear anything, but she could feel the quiet embrace of the chill. While others may have been unnerved, it was the sweet nothing that calmed her. Usually when she was cold she would feel around for ablanket and cuddle back into the warmth of her sheets, but when she attempted to feel around for the soft material. She realized where she was laying on something that was definitely not as comfortable as her bed. She shifted her weight on the cold hard surface trying to get something warm to clutch. Her leg stretched out as the chitin cracked from her once idle state, but shifting her body to try and get up sent her tumbling to the ground. Adrenaline pumped through her as she shot up from her spot on the ground trying to realize where she was. Everything still blurry and out of focus.She couldn’t remember where she was and she felt around for something familiar to grip to, but when her hand gripped something hard and white. She jerked away knowing that it was a case that held her Fathers Wingsmould, but with no pulse of Void that usually echoed throughout the creature, the quiet was now uncomfortable within the empty case. She thought about it more as she rubbed her eyes. Why would there by a empty Wingsmould case in the Palace? Wingsmould were only found in the upper levels and those had Void beings in them. The only place where a empty case would be...

 

Tears pricked at the edges of her eyes and her vision blurred again, but for a different reason as she remembered what had taken place earlier. She felt around her entire shell, looking for any differences in the exoskeleton. Even thought she her eyes had cleared up and she could see clearly for some reason she couldn’t see out of her left eye. Taking a shaky claw she gripped a white piece offabric that was wrapped securely around her eye and tied itself around the opposite top haft of her head. More tears escaped as she tried to remember what exactly had happened. Nathera picked at the scrap of fabric, investigating why there was a bandage in the first place. The moment she seemed to poke under her eye, a pounding headache pushed through her brain. Jerking her hand away, theheadache diminished slightly. 

Knowing she shouldn’t stay on the ground forever. She shakily stood up, her cloak still flowing around her. She checked the rest of her body not finding much, hairline cracks which were normal. Well that’s at least what her Mother had told her. The moment she thought about her Mother, it was the only thought that seemed to echo throughout her mind. Mother would know what to do. Mother would help. She thought to herself, trying to move towards the door of the workshop hoping to be out as soon as possible.

Everytime Nathera stood, she lost her balance almost landing face first into the ground and multiple objects. One time when she was standing up she tried to grip a countertop to pull herself, but instead her hand grabbed nothing and she was sent back into the ground. She thought the counter was right in front of her but when she moved her hand around it was way off to the left.

A slight growl escaped her as she landed almost headfirst into a large bookcase, but instead of books, lots of miscellaneous objects and cases of Wingsmould littered the shelves top. She was about to turn away and start making her way to door again, but a shiny gleam caught her attention about three fourths up on the shelf. She focused in on the object that seemed to beckon her. It was sticking out of the shelf, but was far out of reach. Determined now to get the object, she pushed an empty case of a Wingsmould that was the ground to the bottom of the case. She stayed away from the Kingsmould casing due to their helmets being sharp, and Nathera had always personally liked the wingsmoulds more anyways. She knew she shouldn’t move things around the workshop, but the calling of the object was too overwhelming. About five Wingsmould cases stacked on top of each other later Nathera slowly made her way up the shelf and stretched her arm up to the object. She was just a sliver too short and gave a huff of annoyance, but with the offset of weight of her breath she was sent straight into the shelf with a large clank, the small tower of wingsmould slipped beneath her and she fell, taking the shelf with her onto the ground.

She coughed out a cloud of dust as sheemerged up from the rubble that used to be the neatly organized shelf. Her head hurt even more, but it was forgotten when she noticed the shine of the object she had been looking for. She quickly grabbed it and held it close to her chest. She examined the dark stone that was cold and jagged. Nathera face lit up with recognition. It was the Fragment she had gotten from the Abyss door. She examined the object as she wondered how it got on her Father shelf in the first place. She dusted off her cloak and looked around.

 

“Crap”

 

Nathera now realized that she was now standing in the middle of a broken bookcase. Her Fathers Workshop was a mess. He would mad beyond all measure if he could see the mess she made. She looked dejectedly at the Fragment in her hands. Maybe her Father had a point. It was completely her fault she spoke out against him, her fault that she had ruined his Workshop. Maybe Nathera deserved the punishment she had gotten from him. She still didn’t understand what said punishment was, but it had something to do with the fabric tied around her left eye. She sobbed quietly to herself as self deprecation ate at her mind. Nathera curled in on herself just hoping to go back before she was taken to the Abyss. Before the creation of the Pure Vessel. Her tears dried suddenly as she thought about the Vessel. It was at blame for Fathers punishment. Not her. If the Vessel never existed then none of this would have ever happened. The Vessel should have dragged to his Workshop, not her.

She stood up suddenly, rage filling her being as she gripped the Fragment in her left claw. She attempted to move forward, but her cloak was stuck underneath a large piece of wood that had previously made up the shelving. She tried to tug at the edge of the cloak but it was stubbornly not moving.

“Come on!” She spoke to the cloak hoping to get it out without ripping it. As she tried to free herself another bug that was outside peeked into the Workshop.

 

—

 

The retainer was absolutely terrified. They King said never to go anyways anywhere near his Workshop, but when the retainer heard loud crashes coming from the forbidden room he couldn’t help but investigate. The small bug peeked into the room to see he Workshop completely in shambles and in the middle of it all was the Princess. The Princess looked filled with rage as she tugged at her cloak that was stuck in the rubble. Jerry, the retainer was new to the staff and was one of the lowest ranking retainers in the Palace. He had dreams of moving up in the hierarchy, but doing so meant he had to appeal to the Princess. Who probably held influences to both of her parents. His wife, Gloria worked within the city, but with his blood being slightly noble. He had the opportunity to work in the Palace. Most of the geo he earned was sent back to Gloria who was also raising their single newborn hatching. The extra geo he had was put right into the Kings Fountain. He would often go there, even if he had no geo to give. Jerry snapped out of his thought when he saw the Princess with a large white bandage covering her left eye, he cowered away shakily taking a step out of the room. His first thought was to go find his Light, The King. Seeing the Princess reminded Jerry of when he was walking down the hallway the other day, he remembered seeing the poor Heir being dragged by the King while sobbing. Maybe the King had brought her here to clean up the mess. Maybe the Princess just didn’t like to clean. Well she wasn’t doing a very good job anyways. The moment he took another step out of the room quietly, a large crack echoed throughout the Workshop. He looked behind him to see he had steeped on a stray piece of wood that had made it’s way almost completely out of the door. He looked back at the Heir who had definitely heard the noise.

 “ _Alright_ _Jerry”_ , he said to himself, “ _you_ _got_ _this_. _For_ _Gloria”_

 

—

 

The moment the sound had echoed through the room. Nathera’s one exposed eye darted, locking in with the poor retainer who was about to dart out and mostly likely going to tell her Father. Her Father couldn’t see her like this- it was too embarrassing and it would probably send him into another rage. The adrenaline that had filled her earlier, now simmered under her chitin, like a inferno only contained by a lantern, the adrenaline wanted to lash out at anything that moved. She just needed not to scare away the only bug that could help her. The claw that held the Fragment twitched with anticipation.

 

“Wait!” She quickly spoke, in a hurried, desperate tone.

 

With Jerry caught dead in his tracks he bowed to the Princess answering her with a stutter.

“Y-Yes? My P-Princess?”

 

“Can you please help me?” Nathera said sheepishly. “I’m stuck” she finished giving a dramatic tug at her cloak. She silently laid down the Fragment in her hand, hoping the retainer hadn’t seen it. The whispers in her mind were loud, but they encouraged her own train of thought (if they were her own thoughts anyways). The Whispers just used to be the voice of the Void, but now she heard a second one. This new voice whispered quietly to her, while the Void was loud and chaotic. The new voice was calm, collected. The Void was raging sea, but the new one was a calm ocean or like the soft rain of the city. The second voice also seemed to just whisper commands, telling her actions to take and how to take them, this voice was heavy, it sounded a lot like her Fathers but gravely? She didn’t know. This voice spoke softly, oddly comforting and controlling.

 

“D-Do you want me t-to get The K-King?” Jerry questioned. In all truth the Princess scared him, and he was alreadyscared of the state of the Workshop. Jerry wanted to leave and get the King, but the Princess seemed to call him closer.

 

“No” Nathera said sternly, flinching slightly at the mention of her Father.

“Just come here, My cloak is stuck and I can’t get out” she asked the retainer again, a hint of a impatience growl escape her, hoping just to get him to come back and help her lift up the large piece of rubble from that laid on top of her cloak.

The retainer timidly walked towards the Princess, trying avoiding the rubble and making his way to her slowly. Agonizing Slow. Nathera kept eye contact with the bug. Annoyed filled her along with the adrenaline. Her fingers twitched as the retainer got closer, he stopped about two feet away from the Princess. Bending down Jerry wordlessly strained against the large piece of rubble, Nathera helped putting all their weight to try and push the dark piece off of her. The object moved slowly, but surely. It took about two minutes but the moment it was off Nathera jumped up, Fragment in hand letting out a excited yip and twirling around in her freed cloak. She grabbed the small retainer who was visibly nervous and gave him a large hug.

“Thank you” she repeated gratefully “Thank you so much!”

Jerry tried to pull away, he was never allowed to touch a royal or even feel their cloak, doing so is blasphemy. He tried to wiggle his way out the hold, speaking to the Princess.

“Yes, Y-Yes” said Jerry hoping he could leave and never speak of this again. “S-Should I g-go g-get The K-King now?”

 

Nathera stopped and dropped the retainer. She looked straight into the fallen retainer eyes. The second voice seemed to grow in volume, the Void was quiet.

 

 

 

 

“The King” she spat “does not require your services anymore”

Her grip on the Fragment tightened impulsively as she lunged at the now-terrified retainer. The voice was screaming now, it was so overwhelming. The retainer’s scream was drowned out by her own thoughts(were they really her thoughts?). Nathera sat on top of the retainer lifting up the Fragment in both of her hands.

 

“P-Princess!” The small bug below her begged. “P-Please!”

 

Nathera ignored the retainer, only focused on the gleam of the Fragment. The gleam was intoxicating. The slight light that reflected off the blade was beautiful. The beautiful Pale Light.

Surprising herself she quickly brought the makeshift weapon down.

 

The squish of the Fragment going through soft shell seemed only to encourage her. Bringing the blade back up high, Nathera ignored the pleading of the creature. She swung it back down, not registering her actions. Both the Void’s and the Other’s Voice joined together in odd harmony. They whispered to her edging her on.

 

Up

 

Down

 

Up

 

Down

 

She vaguely thought about the Pure Vessel, hatred fueling her strength as she continued her assault.

 

Up

 

Down

 

Up

 

Down

 

Her Father’s punishment was underserved. More would have to pay in blood.

 

Up

 

Down

 

Up

 

Down

 

Her Mother was unaware, she would sadly pay for her ignorance.

 

Up

 

Down

 

Up

 

Down

 

She was a caged bird, so she sung.

 

Up

 

She only snapped out of the thought when a splash of ichor got on her white shell. The sticky feeling of ichor broke the adrenaline rush and she shakily looked down- terrified of what she would see. Nathera jumped back off the now dead retainer. She looked in horror at the Fragment was now lodged deep into the middle of body. Multiple stab wounds littered the body in different places. The green ichor was everywhere. She didn’t register what had happened and slowly hugged herself as tears fell, mixing in with the ichor that had gotten on her face.

 

“I-I’m so s-sorry”

 

Nathera whispered quietly, scared of her own voice. She looked down at herself to see her cloak covered in ichor. The ugly green was now staining the beautiful outfit. She was frozen. Tears stopped as the lifeless eyesseemed to stare into her own soul terrified her deep into her core. She didn’t know what to do, collapsing onto the ground. Trying to get as far away from the body. Nathera didn’t even know the name of the retainer- nothing about the bug at all. The Heir skittered back as much as she could knocking multiple things around as her back slammed against a counter, stopping her into her tracks. She couldn’t do anything but stare at the impaled Fragment that was imbedded deep into the retainer. Nathera around her eyes to see if she had damaged the most fragile part of her shell and noticed thatno tears had come, only except when she felt her left eye, instead of a headache like earlier. She could feel a black substance dripping out of the soaked bandage, but she didn’t move from her spot at the back of Workshop, humming a tune she remembered her Mother used to sing to her.

 

————————

 

She felt dirty and unworthy, like a lowly servant. Nathera slowly stretched out her legs from under her self and the ichor had now dried cracking as she moved slowly. She blankly stared ahead of her, not seeing the (now) empty husk of a retainer. She slowly walked to the door, stopping next to the lifeless body. Avoiding eye contact she wordlessly unlodged the Fragment out with a hard tug. She examined the weapontaking note of the chipping that had damaged the blade. She had to get out of the Palace, it was a miracle that no one else had come into the Workshop and she couldn’t afford to waste this chance. Peeking her head out of the hallway she looked both ways across the halls. There was no one. Her Fathers Workshop was deep inside the Palace where only few higher ranking retainer were allowed. Before darting out of the Workshop, she stole a glance from behind her seeing the unmoving retainer. Nathera shook her head as to physically get rid of the invading thoughts as she took off sprinting down the long hallway and trying to make her way to her room. If she could find her room then she would how to get to the Throne Room and from there to the entrance. The Palace was long and confusing, even after living in it for her whole life(and being a naturally curious child) she still didn’t know every nook and cranny. The Palace was like a maze, every hallway was the same. She was never really in this part due to wanting to stay as far away as she could from the Workshop. Coming across a closeddoor she slide to a stop, hearing her Parents talking inside. She knew it was her parents to do the glow her Father had, it was bright, like a light in a dim room, but the Light was sometimes rough. Her mother’s calm feeling comforted her, but she knew this was not the time to get lost in the feeling. Nathera huddled against the door automatically, ease dropping on the conversation. The door was thick, but she could still make out parts of the conversation.

 

“-yrm?” The soft spoke first. It was hard to hear her.

 

“Darling?” The Light spoke next. He was loud, stern, easy to hear.

 

“Whe-?”

 

“Workshop, sleeping”

 

A sob escaped the Queen. A shuffle of papers and a huff escaped the other Higher Being. 

 

Mother said something but it was completely muffled.

 

“-ve plans for her” Father responded.

 

Nathera only caught the next couple words from her Mother as she responded to Father.

 

“-eaving”she said “brin- -yya and -era”

 

Tears built up in Nathera eyes. Mother was leaving? For good? And she was leaving her with Father? The voices in her head only seemed to reinforce this idea and she dashed past the door refusing to hear any more of the conversation. Filled with new adrenaline she finally found her way to her room. Almost slamming the door she immediately went to the wardrobe digging through the bottom drawers. Grabbing the five geo(for emergency only her mother told her once) Nathera looked up trying to find a suitable replacement for the now ichor stained cloak. Hearing soft footsteps approaching, her head darted up from the wardrobe, freezing in place.

 

—

 

The Pure Vessel was following orders. After being told by the King to go find his spawn, Nathera, they just followed the bits of Void that seemed to always be with her. Coming into the Heir’s room. The Vessel locked eyes with a frozen Nathera.

 

“W-What are You“ she spat at them “doing here?”

 

With no real voice the Vessel opted to stay silent. They could speak through the Void, but orders given by the King said just to find her and they did. So the Vessel just stood there wordlessly not giving any indication why.

Nathera looked at the Vessel questionably(but still filled with hate).

 

“Fine, don’t tell me” she said grabbing the grey cloak at the back of the wardrobe. “I will slaughter you one day just so you know” Nathera threatened. “I will come back one day and drag every single breath out of your worthless shell” she changed into the new cloak the stained cloak was now bunched up underneath her right arm. Pointing the Fragment that was stained with ugly green ichor straight between the eyes of the Vessel. The Vessel didn’t move or flinch and just stared at the Princess.

 

“I will prove my worth and” Nathera finished. “Father will be proud of me.”

 

“Now. Get out of my way”

 

The Vessel moved wordlessly, following the new order. Nathera dashed out of the room and on to wherever she was going. The Pure Vessel looked down at their tiny black hands.

 

“S̷̵̛̛̜̰̲͍͓͈̣̰̰̘͔̺͉͈̞͚̋ͫ͒̍̿͐̊̿̄͜i̴̡ͤͬ̔̎ͣ͜͞҉͈̫̟̳̬̥̬̬͇̠̮ͅs̻̹̞̪̻̪̥̦̰̤̜͖̘͙̪̈́̒̋̊̃̽ͭ̀͐̍̒ͩ̎̃̇ͭ̄̀͠t̀̂̀ͭ̃̄͑ͨ̍̾̇ͨ̉̓͛ͯͣ̚҉̧̮͖̙͍̩̳͓̩̭̭ͅê̸̪͙͚͔̟̘͉̜̋͊̈̑̾͗̓͐̿̽̉̓͝r̸͇͕̤͚͎͓͓͍̮̞̟͔̹̖̼̖̪̙͑̾ͬͤ̇̽ͥ̽ͭ̾ͥ̐̆ͯ̀͟ͅ?̶̧̡̱̪̣̬̖̙ͣͫ̊̿͑ͫͣͤͫͥ̀͡”

 

————————

Finding the way out of the Palace was easy enough. No one questioned the Princess and it wasn’t unusual to see the Heir flying through the halls. The retainers bowed immediately when seeing her pass. Coming to the exit of the Palace. Nathera came across the Kingsmould that always stood at the entrance. The Kingsmould looked down at the small Princess and gave a warning sway of their large hook. It was usual for the Heir to come to the gate, but with a well timed slash she usually ran off back into the depths of the Palace, but this time was different. The guard had been given orders not to harm the child, but only to bring her back to the King if she tried to get out. This time the Princess looked up at the Kingsmould meeting its dead eyes.

 

“Move” she ordered.

 

The guard stood their ground. They only took orders straight from the King and the Princess did not have that authority.

 

Growling to herself Nathera tried to think of a way passed the Kingsmould. She couldn’t use force, she was way too weak. Couldn’t use persuasion, Nathera was pretty sure they didn’t even had minds to think let alone make a decision. The voices in her head were silent, but maybe she could use the Void to tell him to move. She focused herself, grasping for something deep inside her.

 

“M̳̼͈͔̼̻͂ͤy͈̞͕͇͖̯̬ ̗̯̞͈̟̼̦̓ͬ̀̔ͬṀ̰ͦy͕̠̭̓͞ͅ ̾̀ͣ̔͑́̃l̰̦o̳̹̻̱ͤ̄ͦ̄ͅo̷k̯̯̼̞ͧ͆ͣ̉̓̃ ̨̝̻̪̪͇̹ͨ̽̔ͣ̓ͩw̘̠̳hͪ͋̓̎̾̓o͓ͣ͋̄͒ ̼̣̩̣͛͡w̨̮͊̀ͥ̍̌̒a̛͙̞͔̔̑ͥ͐ͮ́n̛̤̟͕͂̏ͪ́t̬̠͈̥͎̬́s̿̐̏̓̀̅͏̻̙͎̪͍̦̩ ̶̩̼̳̻͂͂̂ͤͨ̚m̳̯̲͍͉̤̥ͧ̅y̗̲̳̘̳͌ͥ̈́̉̒ ̤͛̇̊ͫh̭̮̥e̴͔͚͉͕̜̫ͧ͗͌̅ͅľ͍̲̳̑̂̒͗ͅp̷̘͈͎̝̥̜̗”

 

She clutched her head and tried to command something, anything.

 

“Y̧̫̱͕̙ǒͥ̍ͬͭ͒ǔ͖̻̻̯ͥͮͤ͝ ̵͇̟̯̗̲̖̓̅ͮͫͥͅa̦̮̭̯̠̳͟r̨̮̰̪̤͙ͯͨe̫͈̤͚ͭ̈́͊ͬ ͈ͯ̈ͭͧ̚j͓͇͔̻̲̪̈ͮͪ̽̿̍u͉͚̟̰̙̘͗̋́̍s̰̙ͫ̀̂ͥͧẗ̠̣̝͖͕̦̰́̽̔̀ ̒̆̓ͣ̽̿̿҉͖l̠͚̺̯͋̓̽ͨ͑̿i̴̜͖͂̋ͬ̇k̥̯͚͋̌e͔̻̞͎̪͚͞ ̩̖̤̐̆t̗̺̙̺̑h͔̦̭͉̩̜̫̿̒͊e̢͍̩͕̼ ̻͋͆ͮ̂̿ͣ̅ī̛̫͉̈́͒n̫͎̭̜͐͂͝ͅa̡͍͔̺͓̲̬͇̒ͮ̔n̞͈̗̾͊e̳̟̘̤̳̩̓̋͐ͨ ̶̖̻͓͚ͫ̾̓ͪ̅͒W͕ͮ̆͡ỵ̛̳̠̠ͫͦ̉r̞̯͖̂͜m̯̘̱̫̮̮ͩ̓ͬ̎͌͝ͅ ̢̼̘̩̳̉̂i̛͍͕̦̦̮͎f̰̦̩ ̹̪́y̵̝̟̱͎̰̟ô̶̮͎̰͈͙ͫ̎͗ͦu̢̜̫ͯͭ ̖̝̪̿ͯ̄ͫͮ̀̀ṱ̟͍̱̞̘͢h̓̚i̖̹͍͝n̢k̡̓ͬ͑ ̧͎̘̦ͮ̄̽ͬy̪ͩ̂̍̓̀o̭̰ͣu̼͈͘ ̟̗̝̿ͬͥ͂c̢͇͔̥̩̭͔ã̗̱͓̀̏͑̆n̍̕ ̤̭̟͖̖ͯͨ͝c̨̪̔ͨͦ̊ͯͤ́ȯ̯̩͇͊ͥ̍n̒ͧ̌t̜͖̜̙̝̿̀̿ͫ̍̀̄͘ṙ̙̳̳̾̒ͪͨͪͫo̳̳̞̜̘̼͋̋͂l ̤̟̹ͪ̈́ͣ̂͗̓ͭũ̦ͪ̇̆ͮ͆sͬ͗ͬ”

 

She pleaded with the Void, hoping it would just help her. She begged and begged.

 

“F̹͘ì͔͔̹̊̌͊̅ͣͅn̟͍͙͔̪͇̰͑̑ͣ̈̇ĕ̼̲̦ͣ͊͝ͅͅ.S̥̹͕̣̣͊͘t̼͈̠͔͙̭̗́͒ͪ̆͒̄̀o̯͇̟̜̰͕̼ͧ̀p̡͖̙̖̪̟̞̾ͬͯ̚ ͉̳̘ͤ̿ͦ͊͆̌͢y̶̓o̶̥̬̖͗͗ŭ̵̫̙r̗̘͓̝͙͉̐͜ ̾̇̃ͭ̒i̛̳̓̇̀̊ͤ͗n̥ͬͩ̎͗̑ͯ͢c̞͈͎̲̾̽̏o̘͌̋͐̿͒h̸̻͕̓̄̊ͨe͙̙̭̠̰̅͋͐̆̿r̼̖̗̝̞̂̆͛̃͠ẽ̗̙̰̦̳̬n̸̼̝̜̤ť̜̝̺̦͉̉̃̃̃̆̕ͅ ͇͈̤̮̻̠͑ͨ̊͆ͫr̶͎̤̻̬͔ͅä̟̹̝̮ͩ̐̂m̮̐͗͒ͦ̚b͖͍̅̆ͭͮ͝l̘̪͖̓̒i̩̣̟̔̔ͣ̃̀̂́n̗̪̠ͥ̒̌̃͐͜g̖͎̋̍ͤś͕̣͚ͯ” she felt something akin to a large crackin her mind. “M̷̭͇̪o̸̩̪̔v͎̋e͎͇̦̪̪ͤ̇̽͑̇̚ͅ ̙̦͙o̰͎̗̰̣͗͆̚v̯͉̣̻̗̲̮ͪ̈͌eͤ́͊ṛ̭̻̜̟̖͆”

 

Nathera blacked out for a second and the moment her eyes cleared back up everything seemed to jump from color to a greyscale. Even in the pure white palace, she could tell the color scale changed. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. Her body moved without her consent. Assuming a confident stride, her body moved right up to the Kingsmould.

 

 

“ **Move** ”

 

 

The guard moved without question and she started to move with a cocky stride out of the Palace and the real Nathera, the Nathera trapped in her own mind started to protest against the creature that was now controlling her body.

 

“H-Hey! Come on! You helped me, now I want to be back in my own body!”

 

“Ò͚̬̬̬̝̯̘̓ͯ̀̒ͬ̚h̹̥̫͖͕̪̃͒̒̚.̭̼̮̻̳ͥ̎ͥ̈̚ͅ ͣ̆҉̤̭̦̼̱̬I͊̄ ̨̮̱͚̯͉͂ͣ̌ͦ̇f̡̲̞͐̄͒̚o͈̯̱̰͖͋ͨ͠r̬̫̮͇̣͚̠̓̽ͭ̔̽̊g͍̝̗͈͂̂͘o̼̟͎̥͙͔̺͊̿͛͡t̳͍͒̽̌ͥ̒́̚ ̧̆̈́ͫͦy̵̽̚ö̖̥̬́̒ͭ̋̅̆͘ͅu̍͐ͦ̃ͫ̈͏̪͕̝͙͙̹̭ ͇̭̲w̷ͯ̈́ͯe̯̜̖̲̞͉̩ͩ̎ͯ͒͐ͥṙ̟̪e̠̲̜͚̗̮ ̺͌̔̍́ͪ͊͟i̳̰̥̟̦ͬ̏͋ͦn̉͆̎͏̬͓̺̘̣̳͖ ̞̱̮̯ͧͧͤ̇͑̾̎t̲̺͕͢h̺͚̳̥̣̅ͬ̌ͩ͢e̶r̴̟͎͔e̼̠̟ ̴̠͔̳͙̥̆ͩ̅̐ͨ̚. Gͩͪͤͨõ͈͎̩̟̅ͪ̈́͋͞o̦̱̯̤̠ͯ̀d̦̣̍̉̄̈̆ͫ̚ ̮̳̭̱̲̗L̈̇҉͉ù̟̯̩̀͑ͧͥͦ̚c͇̘͉̣͌̐k̷̙.̱̤̬̖̯͇͙̀ͧ́ ͇̭͚̟̄̍̓̔Y̆̉ͫ͛͋͒͏̪ͅo͎̰͉̝̟̳̐̃ͨͧ̑ͅu̵͗̒́ͪ͂̑ͣ’̠͒͛̅̽͗lͥl̞̯̥͖͍͉̒̍̍̆̋̾̈́ ͍̬͊͆̎̄̂̓͆ǹ͕̱e̐ͩ̓҉͉͎̜̥͖̙̹e̘͈̤͒̈́͆ͯ̓̍́d̲̻̩͔̬̬̕ ͈̪̖͎͆̀̓͑ͤ͑͗ĭ̬̣͐̏̆̏̾t̞̼̲͈̤̰̆ͧ̊̏̉”

 

Another crack and another one second black out got the real Nathera back in her own body. The colors were back in full force, the lights were a bit too bright but that was expected. While moving up the Ancient Basin she saw the glow of her Fathers fountain. With his large figure, the statue towered over her. The statue has his signature crown of horns and the his pure white cloak. Two pairs of arms were shown, but he had much more than that. Nathera had asked why she didn’t have as many arms, but received little answers. Draw to flowing fountain, she stood in front imposing figure. Looking down at plaque and tracing the letters.

A True Servant gives away everything to the kingdom

 

Everything. The word echoed in her mind. Shakily taking the five geo she had accumulated. Nathera slowly dropped them over the pitch black water. They disappeared under the surface never to be seen again. Turning away she laid the stained cloak on the ground in front of the fountain.

 

“I’m sorry, but this is all I have, Father” Nathera whispered softly to the statue. She turned away from the statues unmoving eyes. Gripping the Fragment in her other hand softly she made her way up, and to the left where she knew a tram laid.

 

After making her way over a unstable piece of rock, She gave a huff and started to move towards the newly built tram. She didn’t know where it went, but it had to be better than the Palace. She walked to the weirdly emptytram. Most trams were always packed, but this was silent. Prying the trans doors open she found a front seat and pressed the button. Suddenly the tram moved down its track and into the tunnels which her future laid.

 

Nathera laid back in the seat, holding the Fragment close to her heart as she drifted off into sleep. Unknowing of what lies ahead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave down in comments if you think Nathera is going to Deepnest or Kingdoms Edge.  
> Also...
> 
> 1\. I have a bit of a schedule now, posting every other week(most likely Thursdays)  
> 2\. Also I would like to shed light on a beautiful piece of fan art that I got. The link to the amazing art is below so feel free to check it out. 
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/fluffykreme/art/Nathera-790287806
> 
> 3\. I made a tumblr so I could share my random drawings I do on the fanfiction. (the only thing I tumblr for)  
> https://nyanyadragon20xx.tumblr.com/
> 
> Anyways! Thank you guys again for the comments/kudos. This is my first fanfiction as you know as it means so much to me that people actually enjoy it. See you guys in the next chapter!!


	8. The Fragment part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Queen and King try and solve a Mystery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically what happens in chapter 7, The Fragment, but from the Pale Kings side. This will be a shorter chapter as it is just ‘filler’. Sorry this chapter isn’t as strong as the other ones. Back to Nathera next chapter. Enjoy!

The Pale King and his Queen, The White Lady, walked in silence down the halls of the White Palace. After sending the Pure Vessel to go find his spawn. The two Higher Beings walked in odd silence as a bit earlier The Queen had decided to leave the Palace along with her royal guard, Dryaa and their spawn Nathera. The Pale King didn’t want to easy give in to the matter of just letting his spawn go, far away where the King could not watch the little brat and act accordingly if /something/ occurred. As they turned the corner and made their way to the Workshop- where Nathera was bound to be. The Queen spoke up softly. 

“Why?”   
The one word didn’t need anymore explaining and the King gave a huff and answered. 

“I am sorry, Dear, but it seemed my temper got the best of me.” 

The Queen look unconvinced at his answer but didn’t harp on the topic. The King took this chance to give his one request about her leaving. 

“I do recommend you bring her back when she starts to- well you know” The King finished off creaking open the door of the Workshop. 

A husk of a dead retainer laid on the ground and the usually spotless room was littered with broken objects from a now shattered shelf. Ichor stained the floor as both Higher Beings looked in shock. The Queen in horror and the King in quiet resignation. It couldn’t have been that easy could it?

“My Word! What happened?” The Queen spoke up “Where is my darling?” She immediately questioned Pale Wyrm- blaming him for anything out of the ordinary. The King moved towards the husk and inspected the wounds that littered the body. The stabbing was erratic. There was no rhyme or reason to the pattern and the retainers final look was one of absolute panic- like the now dead bug did not expect the thing to kill him well to do so. 

“Looks like someone had a bit of a rampage” The King mumbled hoping the Queen would not hear his thoughts. Explanations on what had happened were already forming in the Wyrm mind. The King studied the husk looking for anything to base his assumptions on.   
Did someone get into the Palace and his Workshop? Only to be seen by the retainer and then flee? No. He would have know if something got into the Palace- let alone this deep.   
Was some bug planning a coup d'etat and was trying to find anything of use? No. Even a bug of the lowest brain capacity(that he himself gave to them) would be smart enough to not to even /think/ about planning something even close to that against him of all bugs(if he could even call himself that) .   
Maybe it was those Soul-obsessed bugs from the City. No. They would not have the audacity to defy him. 

Maybe just maybe the Wyrm was giving his useless spawn not enough credit. All he needed was one piece of evidence and he knew exactly what had taken place.   
The King moved away from the body and looked around the messy room seeming to search for something. Moving around cases of Wingsmould and the platelets of empty Kingsmould. He came across a broken shelf where a certain Fragment should be. Searching around the vicinity for it, he had his evidence. Connecting the dots between the dead retainer and the missing object with the absent presence of his spawn. The King turned to the Queen 

“It’s gone, she took it and is in the process of leaving or already gone” 

The White Lady looked at him in confusion and hurt.   
“g-gone?” She spoke to her Husband quietly, she looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment. Sadness and grief wormed it’s way around the White Lady’s heart. Her daughter was missing and the King didn’t seemed worried about what his statement implied- which made matter worse. She hadn’t felt like this since Nathera was born. The fear of losing her only surviving child was enough to send The Queen onto the edge of panic.   
The Queen shook her head denying the claims in her own head. There was no way that her precious darling could /ever/ harm a bug. Nathera did not even know what death really meant or how to even wield a nail in the slightest. 

“The Fragment, I picked it up when we went to go get my spawn from the Abyss” The Wyrm spoke again cutting the Root out of her thoughts. 

“What does that ha-” The White Lady stopped, understanding where her Wyrm was going. Tears pricked at the Queens eyes as she thought about what could have happened to her daughter. 

“Do not worry, My Dear, she is still in Palace. It’s impossible to get out with my guards are /equipped/ to not to let her pass”

“A-Are you sure?” The Queen whispered softly to the Higher Being. 

“Yes. Nathera has no knowledge on Void, let alone any practice needed to control it. Only I alone can bend the will of Void to my vision.” The King said proudly standing up and dusting off his cloak with a pair of arms. “My spawn is a pale imitation of myself, if even that, it is impossible for her to even /commune/ with the Void anyways” The King moved to a counter top where the Heir once laid. Picking up a discarded scalpel that was stained with a prick of black blood on the tip. The Wyrm gave a sigh and looked at the mess around him. 

“What a mess...” The King said, starting to organize the mess of a workshop. Starting with the medical tools he had out before hand. “I’ll have to take a look at Nathera eye later- /after/ I clean this mess up” the King mumbled to himself. “I thought I had taught my spawn a lesson, guess I need to try something else” 

The Queen looked at the King in shock. The fear that ate away at her was quickly washed away like a tide with burning rage. How dare the Wyrm not even try? How dare he not give a care about his own blood? How dare he force /her/ to kill Nathera’s siblings? How dare he think that he could hurt their daughter and expect the Root to just fall back to his side? The rage was building up quickly. The normally quiet and pacifist bug straightened up her branches, expanding to their fullest length. The Queen usually towered well above the King, but at the Roots full height she was colossal over the Wyrm. 

“I’m leaving, now, let us find Nathera and I will be on our way” Her tone left no room for questions, but the King looked up from the mess on the floor and looked at his beloved...almost... mockingly . 

“Oh?” 

“Yes. Do not test me, My Wyrm.” The Queen spoke uncharacteristically daring the bug to challenge her.

The King looked at the Queen in mild amusement. The Wyrm could take her in a fight, but he still loved his darling. Setting a Kingsmould case on the counter he turned around looking straight into the Root sparkling blue eyes- unflinchingly. 

“Alright, My Beloved, She is bound in the Palace, I will call for her and find her /personally/.”

“Thank you”

The couple silently stepped down the hallway like before. The Queen was back to her normal size and they both made their way to the Heir’s room. Retainers scurried around the hallways almost like they were looking for something, one retainer that stood at Nathera door was approached by the royals. Giving a full bow at the waist the retainer addressed both monarchs. 

“M-My King?” He nervously (more so than usual) spoke “My Q-Queen?” 

Both the King and Queen stopped. It was not unusual for a retainer to be stationed outside the room, but it was odd that the door was wide open, with the Pure Vessel inside staring straight at the far wall(if it was even looking at wall was debatable). The retainer was shaking visibly and looked terrified of the situation in front of him. 

“Where is my spawn?” The King asked shortly. 

The retainer kept his bowed state as he answered to the King. 

“The P-Princess n-not in her r-room at the moment, The l-last anyone s-saw her was at t-the e-entrance to the P-Palace” 

The King gave a huff of annoyance and turned away from both the retainer and the Queen. He started at a slow pace to the front of the Palace- where the Heir was supposedly. The Queen looked in almost shock as her husband continued down the hallway- not even glancing back. The Queen could see him mumble under his breath, worried about what he might do if she wasn’t there. She quickly caught up to him. The King didn’t say a word as they made their way on a wild goose chase. Coming to the front of the Palace a Kingsmould was collapsed on the ground. The King looked at the guard in growing anger. Nathera wasn’t here and she had probably left. This Kingsmould was to keep her inside and if it was inactive then she most likely left. Turning to the White Lady he delivered the news. 

“She’s gone” 

The White Lady stumbled back (just a step) - like the words had caused a physical push. Tears leaked out of her eyes and sobbed. After about a minute of silent weeping the Root wiped the tears and looked at the unnerving ((uncaring)) stare. 

“D-Do you think she will c-come back?” She asked looking for just a semblance of hope. 

“I could track her down easily” The King stated shorty. Like Nathera was just another piece in a game of chess...a pawn. Slight anger seeped into the Queen but was quickly washed away with new despair. The White Lady glanced passed the King, looking off into the distance outside the Palace. 

“W-Why would she leave?” The Queen said out loud she just wanted clarification. 

The King responded as if he knew what was going in the Princess’s head.   
“My spawn is weak” he started “She wants to prove herself to me -this is the only way she thinks she can do that” Adding under his breath “she’ll regret it” 

The two fell into silence as both of them watched the entrance of the Palace. Almost looking like they were expecting something. 

 

...

...

 

The Wyrm broke the quiet by turning slowly making his way to his throne. The Root looked at the King, speaking softly. 

“I’m leaving” 

...

...

...

He continued walking. 

 

Sneak peak time(maybe?????):

It was dark. Sometimes the dark was comforting, but this dark was not. The voices were the only thing that kept her company, but they were also silent. A new voice cut through the small scuttling of tiny ((lesser)) bugs. 

“W-Who are you?” 

Was that her own voice? Or maybe someone... like her? 

/She could tell Father, yes?, you know what to do- I can h͔̘͍̼̪̠̯͋̉̾ͤ̌̄e̬̻̠͙̦ͨ̅ͧ̀̍ͅl͏̱̙̞̭̥̼p̧̖̙̫̲̫̥̊̒͒̐̇̾̚.../

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty sure this chapter sucks but I’ve been dying this week. Let me know your thoughts below! (I love seeing new comments) sorry for the late chapter.  
>  Also By the Gods.... is that 50 kudos??  
> Below is my tumblr for random art work for this fanfiction(feel free to message) . See you in the next chapter (in the deep???) Thank you so much for the support 
> 
>  
> 
> https://nyanyadragon20xx.tumblr.com/


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